Tyche District :: Promethea

     These days, what passes for a business district in Promethea is mostly 
limited to Eos Square. It wasn't always like that, though; in the city's more 
prosperous days, the heart of the economy pumped from the grand steel-and-marble 
edifices of Tyche District. Even now, some of the almost intimidatingly intense 
sense of business lingers here. The architecture is sparer and more functional 
than that of the rest of Central Promethea. What decorations there were have 
long since shattered or been clouded beneath falls of ash.

     These days, though, Tyche District has a less benign purpose. Anything 
that's too extreme to sell in Eos Square eventually makes its way here. 
Obscurely-labeled shops have taken up residence in old office buildings like 
worms in corpses, only less wholesome. No official inventory has been taken of 
just what it is they sell--the common wisdom on the matter is "anything and 
everything." The few (and yet curiously popular in certain circles) examples of 
drugs, sex, and weapons that don't quite make the cut at Eos Square squat here, 
and information passes between all the wrong people--for a price, of course.

     At night, and on days when the sky is choked by ash, this is the closest 
thing Central Promethea has to The Wrong Neighborhood. The only light comes from 
the windows of old stores that have been converted into laboratories for the 
more hands-on of the city's scientists and researchers.

Contents:
Halley
Siren
Orochimaru
Obvious exits:
Via Ananke <VA>  Philotes Quarter <PQ>  Uzuki Clinic <UC>  The Painted Sword 
<PS>


From the Skies:

 The sky is clear and blue and has been that way pretty much all day. Despite 
the rain and the snow in various places on the board, it has cleared out and 
left the sky bright and blue, allowing the sun to shine down unobstructed 
throughout the entire world. Even in the coldest of places, it has been a fairly 
nice day, nice enough for work to go on as normal, cleanup for the various 
disasters that have happened the world over, and even a few people risking 
ventures into the wilds to find food or attempt to travel to discover news of 
the world. And the news seems to be oddly quiet.

The Chaos attacks have ceased, despite Thunderbird's resent manifestations, the 
last reported ones having been yesterday evening. There used to be so many 
outside that not an hour went by without at least a sighting, but 
today? ...Nothing.

And then, the world over, a wind comes from above, pushing down against the game 
board in equal amounts no matter where the piece is placed on the surface. As 
long as they are outside, it buffets down against them. The wind is not natural. 
Not only does it go downwards instead of to the side, it isn't even made of air. 
It is a wind of emotion and feeling, a challenging hatred that seems to call out 
for battle...

And then something comes between the sun and the world below. A shadow races 
over the board, touching the entirety of it at least for a moment before it 
stops and allows the light to illuminate the source. Only an unlucky place in 
the Wilds is trapped under the shadow.

The figure is huge. Yellow and green with feathers slicked back with water, as 
if it was just rolling around in the ocean before it came here, one eye black, 
one eye yellow. And if he was huge when he stepped on those buildings, he looks 
even more large now, but... so far away. No matter where a piece is, he can be 
seen in perfect detail, but looks so very, very far away. Bigger than the sun, 
but feeling just as distant as that.

Thunderbird's wings flap, no ruckass reaching the land below, only panicked 
people running for cover in each city, or setting up defenses seem to be the 
physical effects. So high up he can't touch the world... But the world can hear 
him.

He lets out a roar, as if to answer something. Then something black and bigger 
than the Chaos God himself but still seeming so far distant at the same time... 
comes barreling out of the south so fast he's a streak of pure black and slams 
right into the grotesque God, sending them both spinning through the air.



What in the world...? Halley's eyes grow wide, his head poking out of one of the 
windows of the 'house' that he and the kids stay in. They've been taking care of 
the mutants that had been broken off. In particular the young ones. So things 
are pretty crowded in here. "You guys, stay here!" he tells the rest of the Rats 
as he runs for the door. "I gotta get into the city! They might need me!" It 
certainly looks like something that the Titans might need to be around for.


Ever since the chaos attacks, Orochimaru had known /something/ was going on. 
He'd gotten trapped for a while in Winterheart, but with the help of Griffin 
Vulture's priest had managed to return to the small hidden collection of homes 
he'd called residence with his students.. and promptly herded all of them to 
Promethea. He didn't know what was going on and didn't really know if he -
wanted- to be sure. Trouble erupting in the sky finds the sannin perched on the 
broken remnants of some skeletal building, watching with silent worry. Gods 
didn't manifest often or without purpose. This wasn't going to be good at all. 
He's sure he can survive whatever's coming, and most of his students as well, 
but the city's taken so much damage for the past years that surviving -this- 
might be damn near impossible. And Orochimaru is going to do absolutely nothing 
at all to help or hinder at this juncture. Just watch.



Swathed in a commoner's long cloak, the cowl pulled up over his head, Vox looks 
fairly nondescript. Nothing can hide the natural confidence of his stride, 
though, as he glides along the street -- pausing now and then, his hands tucked 
under the robe's sleeves.


     River stands in the middle of the street, head tilted back, almost lolling, 
as her eyes fix on the sky. And she's been in that pose for the past half-hour, 
the only sign of life the occasional blink, and the slow rise and fall of her 
chest.
     Only when the wind comes does she move. And barely, at that--there's a 
convulsive twitch, and her head untilts, almost creaking from the long time it's 
spent held back. "A meddler..." she says softly--and just like that, collapses.


While the wind continues battering, Halley does his best to stay up. Wind, for 
him, is an annoyance rather than a brutal thing. He's low enough to the ground 
that he's got a bit of a brace-point. Unfortunately, he's also scrawny enough 
that when the gusts _do_ hit hard, he's going tumbling a few feet. But finally, 
he makes his way over to the familiar face. "Siren!" he calls out to him. "I'm 
here!" Probably an announcement the President didn't need, but Halley wanted to 
make certain that the metallic man knew one of his Titans was nearby and, as 
always, ready to... uh... do... whatever was needed. "What the hell is going 
_on_? I mean, that's Thunderbird up there, but... what the hell's that with-?"
     Whoops! Slam on the brakes! Girl crumpling in the street! That's something 
that needs to be dealt with, as far as Halley's concerned. Rather than running 
toward Siren directly, he darts toward the girl instead. Have to check on her! 
See if she's hurt! Part of the colony, and all that!



From the Skies:

 The tumbling continues for quite some time, almost as if it is slowed down or 
exagerated. The larger of the two birds, huge and black with a scar over one of 
his eyes, stops the tumble, finally, compensating with his wings. The size seems 
so over exagerated, but then, this place is a dream. How else would one of the 
Gods look to the pieces they brought in. Black hooked beak, like a giant bird of 
prey, catches a hold of the slicked scaley bird's neck, ripping. Yellow puss 
sprays, falling down in large droplets, showering various places across the 
world in the grotesquely smelling goo that must be the bird's blood. The wound 
isn't deep enough, though.

Thunderbird thrashes out, bending to pull his claws up and latching talons onto 
the dominating bird of ultimate evil's leg and tossing him away. Roc corrects 
himself and just jumps back in, a little blood shining on his wound and a few 
drops falling to the world below. All the cities get at least some of each, the 
first physical evidence besides the killing intent in the air a moment before. 
Evidence that this really is happening and not some kind of optical illusion in 
the sky.

Screams rip through the air as they fly at each other again, Roc's sheer size 
overpowering the smaller bird, but Thunderbird unleashes his feathers, just 
before they slammed into each other. The black bird with a heart of ice takes 
the feathers on his face and chest, burying in and causing him to bleed more.

The feathers that missed begin to crash to the world below, slamming into places 
in the wilds; none falling onto the cities by luck alone. It wasn't as if the 
bird was trying to miss them, after all.

When they met this time, even though injured, Roc's talons dig into the scales 
of the yellow-green bird, ripping away at his chest again, bringing forth more 
blood and rotted skin and scales float down as well. ... Scales that look as if 
they must be large enough to flatten a house, but by the time they breach the 
barrier between distance and optical size, they are only ten feet wide at the 
most. ...and a few of them do slide into the cities, cutting through buildings 
or half buring in streets, though no more than one or two in any one place.



     Have you ever seen Siren in a panic?

     Neither has the majority of Promethea. In fact, perhaps only one girl can 
ever claim that acclaim, the only one to have been his 'leash' in all the time 
he had been a citizen of the ruined-but-rebuilding city. He was in his office 
when the word first reached him something funny was going on in the sky, day 
becoming night and things just becoming the most fucked up thing he's ever seen. 
Though he was dressed to be the current Lord of the city in his fanciful sport 
coat, standing out on the roof with his aides and his cohorts for a few minutes 
has brought him to realize that they don't need a politician right now-- they 
need The Man.

     Storming down into his office, it was a furious few minutes of attire 
swapping. His checkered sport jacket removed, his button-down shirt tossed onto 
the desk in favor of his old black tanktop and the bright firetruck red and 
black vinyl coat he was known for. His ingram holsters strapped to his thighs, 
his coat zipped, his whip in his pocket, and the katana slung across his back.

     Squirting his eyes with a little window cleaner and wiping them off with a 
rag, he storms outside with the fierce determination of a leader. Guildenstern 
the Imperial Conquistidor flutters at his side, the angry-looking Haro looking 
ready for business.

     And then Roc totally sideswipes the fuck out of Thunderbird.

     Falling flat on his ass, his eyes go wide. "OH MY FUCKING JESUS MURPHY I 
THINK I PEED MY PANTS."

     This isn't quite Siren in a panic, yet.



Vox pauses, seeing River fall to the ground -- and then the horrendous screech 
above snatches his attention. Casting his cowl back to see the two birds 
battling furiously, the Archon's eyes narrow, zooming in on the fight. Then he 
speaks, his voice flat but carrying quite clearly:

"All citizens should move to safe bunkers immediately."

With that, Vox begins to /move/ -- whipping off his robe as golden arcs of 
Essence begin to race up and down his body, forming a shimmering, geometric 
corona. His klave is in his hand, as he stands over River like a protective idol, 
calculating descent vectors and drop rates in his head the feathers start to 
fall. Uncharacteristically, he says to nobody in particular, "I don't suppose 
anyone brought an implosion bow..."



... /Hah/, safe bunkers in Promethea. That's damn unlikely. Siren's showing of 
exactly what Promethea's leadership is made out of draws a quiet sigh from the 
not quite hiding ninja, who is very loathe to leave his spot. It's safe enough 
there, and he can see what's coming, and watch yellow, pturid blood splatter 
into the ground with a lot of wet and yuck. He makes a note to touch none of it. 
He could be helpful, but .... well. He's not. That would mean going out of his 
way to obviously help others, and that just isn't good. Not for Orochimaru 
anyway. He's pretty sure his lot will be secure where they are. Not entirely, 
but.. enough.



Oh yeah. This is so bad. All of it. Halley raises an arm as though to shield 
himself against the plummeting mess, though he's got nothing at all with which 
to help him. Still, he's dealt with horror and disgust before. Back at home. 
Maybe nothing to _this_ extent, but he's seen it all before. Foul, horrible, 
disgust-....
     And there's Siren, demonstrating his leadership. Halley whimpers under his 
throat. This is so not a good thing. Really. It's not. Is he going to have to 
step in and do something? Aside from Vox's (admittedly very good) 
suggestion? .... probably, but not right yet. He's got an unconscious person to 
shield for the moment. Although when Vox comes over, Halley reassures him, "I'm 
fine. Really. I got it here. Get some other people goin'. I'm a Titan." Like 
that should say everything.



     If she's aware of the protection she garnered, River doesn't show it. In 
fact, she doesn't seem aware of much of anything. At least for a few moments. 
Then a moment later, she reveals that she is, in fact, aware--or at least, not 
unconscious. From her crumpled heap on the street, she sits bolt upright with a 
startling suddenness, eyes wide. "The swirls! The colors, they're--tearing, 
gashing, hatred and mindlessness--" She shrieks suddenly, rolling to the side; a 
moment later a scale plummets toward them. A second later, she sits back up, 
looks toward Halley and Vox, and says, "What are you doing? Move!"



From the Skies:

 The yells increase, Thunderbird obviously not feeling too well after that last 
lash across the chest, but his wings wrap around Roc, the claws at the ends 
latching onto him to keep him into the air and he digs his own beak into the 
bird of evil. More blood sprays about, all red this time, landing in small and 
large droplets throughout. A shadow casts over the sun as they tumble across it 
in the air, losing altitude and seeming to get bigger as they do... the wind 
picking up as the sounds of their fight get closer to the world below. The 
ground starts to shake, buildings give off life tremors for those who fled 
inside, but so light for now. The birds break apart in their tumble, both 
flapping their wings, bringing up the winds as they rise away again.

The darker bird's feathers are slick with blood, tears in his flesh plainly 
visible, but he doesn't stop. He tucks his wings close and dives towards 
Thunderbird, beak catching one of the bird's wings. There's a sickening crackle 
and thunderous scream as the wing breaks away, bones fracturing into tiny pieces 
and skin tearing away like old rotted leather.

The wing itself crashes down towards the ground, landing in the vacinity of 
Middleton, a little outside the city, closer to the Knifewind Sands, but luckily 
in an uninhabited area, but when it lands there's a heavy shake of the ground 
around that area, the quaking of the earth moving out in waves and eventually 
touching the whole board, though heaviest around the already wrecked Middleton, 
and lighest in the further areas of Winterheart and Golden Hall.

And Thunderbird doesn't fall, claws reaching up and talons latching onto Roc's 
side, digging deep and causing the brutal God of evil to cry out in pain. But 
this keeps Thunderbird in the air... or threatens to pull them both down to the 
earth below.



Vox spares a moment to look down at Halley. His expression remains more or less 
impassive, though the corners of his mouth quirk slightly. Amusement? Well, look 
at it from /his/ perspective. He nods, and says calmly, "Excuse me." With that, 
he moves... burning more Essence, the corona of golden light around him gaining 
in intensity, a shimmering pattern crowned with a spinning cogwheel over his 
head materializing as he leaps halfway up a building wall.

Vox's agility may not be as profound as one of the Moonsilver or Starmetal caste, 
but he can jump like a bastard if it's necessary. There's a crackling hiss as a 
blade of gold and white light sprouts from the device in his fist, and he comes 
in at the scale from its broadside.

There's a flash, as the beamklave whickers back and forth like a torch waved. 
And then the scale /shatters/ as Vox plows through the thing, landing several 
meters distant as bits of scale clatter to the ground. If people aren't running 
for cover, he's thundering at them, "MOVE TO COVER. NOW."



"Moving. Sounds like a good idea," Halley says as he reaches down to grab for 
River's arm, letting Vox handle the scale as he tries to get her up and out of 
the open area and hopefully toward the buildings. "Come on. It'll be easier on 
you there." He's starting to get a headache with all this going on, too. "I 
don't wanna have to drag ya, but I don't think you'd do well standing out here 
in this mess."



     Siren panicked-- but that isn't to say he isn't totally ineffectual. 
Guildenstern's jaws open and the spike-toothed creature takes a bite out of the 
young man's ear, eliciting an ear-piercing yell and punching the Haro in the 
mouth as blood drips out of the wound, looking mighty pissed off.

     Holding the small hole carved out of the back of his ear, he stands up and 
grits his teeth, punching a fist into his other hand and tapping his fingertips 
against his knuckles. Whoever it was that said that they need to find shelter, 
they were right. Likely, the most reinforced building in the city right now is 
the governmental building, and-- wow, did that motherfucker just punch a hole in 
a falling scale? Good. His eyes scan around quickly-- no Kakashi yet, some dude 
that's crazy, a girl, Halley.

     Storming over to the short man with blood squirting out of his earlobe, he 
reaches out and grabs at the small hairs on the back of the kid's head as he 
starts making plans. "Get the stragglers in the basement of the government 
building! Talk to whomever you need to and get this shit underway!"



     Scrambling upright with Halley's help, the girl looks at the Alchemical as 
he, well, runs up a wall and punches a scale into dust. Her lips purse, and for 
a moment, there's a clear, startling lucidity in her gaze. The next moment it's 
gone, and she sags against the hand on her arm, nearly falling to her knees 
again. "Wrong," she moans quietly. "Wrong wrong wrong... this isn't how it 
should be!" But she'll go where Halley leads, stumblingly.



Oof! OW! "Yessir!" Halley says, taking note of Siren's comment. See? He _can_ 
follow orders. When the man in charge is giving them instead of wetting himself. 
"Come on!" he says again to River, giving the girl a couple of tugs to make sure 
that she's following. "We gotta get to the building! You, move!" And though he 
said 'we', Halley is instead running toward another person, giving a sharp 
demand and quickly pointing to a crowd that's trying to hide in the shelter of 
one of the ruins. Not very effective shelter, either, if something comes 
crashing down on them.
     Another pause, and Halley lets telepathy flare out toward Vox, his eyes 
glowing, his face creased briefly in pain. Hate doing that. ~I don't know who 
you are and what you're doing, but keep doing it. We gotta get these people 
under cover.~ Hopefully, telepathy works on the man, at least.



It was a perfectly ordinary day in Promethea. Which means that it wasn't 
ordinary at all, of course, but Kakashi has somewhat skewed standards of 
normalcy, so he really didn't care. He's just happy to have a nice, dependable 
job back, along with a boss who appreciates his reading habits.

Then the sky practically blew up.

Now, Kakashi had heard rumblings of Bad Shit Going Down, but this is way 
overboard. It takes him a good few dazed minutes to first realize that yes, 
there's feathers and blood and all sorts of crazy stuff raining down from the 
sky. It takes him a few more to dig his way out of the wreckage of the Perfectly 
Innocent Romance Novel Store he was browsing before the insanity started.

Kakashi climbs out of the wreckage, absently wiping dust and debris off himself, 
and stares blankly up at the sky. After a moment, he pulls up his hitai-ate and 
stares up at the sky with both eyes. No, it's *still* completely insane.

A gout of blood sprays down on him--no, not quite. He sidesteps it at the very 
last moment. Yeah, he's pretty sure now that this is real, even though it makes 
no sense.



Vox sidesteps a fractured chunk of scale that buries itself into the ground 
where he was standing, the golden haze shimmering around him like a mirage as he 
stares up at the sky. His eyes narrow, the irises spinning in and out to keep 
the two aerial combatants in focus. Automatically, he begins to speak, his voice 
sonorous, "Hail Autochthon, Great Maker, Forger of Worlds, grant us your clarity 
of vision and your passion of innovation, deliver us from gremlin, void, 
inefficiency, and error..." Snapping back to normal vision, he firmly chivvies a 
group of civilians into another basement, away from the crowd Halley's working 
on -- no point in tempting probability.



From the Skies:

 As they start to fall towards the earth below, a black streak appears in the 
sky. Much smaller than the two involved in the fight, a still quite large black 
raven, indentifiable by the black beak she bears, pushes against them, trying to 
force them back up. She caws, trying to tell them something, but neither of them 
listen. Thunderbird's remaining wing lashes out, the claw at the end of it 
catching Raven across the neck, ripping out flesh and skin and feathers and 
sending her tumbling down towards Promethea in a spiral of black wings. Her head 
hangs in an odd angle, as if it was nearly ripped off by the blow.

There is a second blur that appears, grabbing onto the falling bird before she 
impacts and pulling her to safety. A large crow, the same size as his sister. 
Their impact is never heard, but they land close to Promethea, Crow leaning over 
the body of his fallen sister. Visible only to those in Promethea, he leans over 
her and slowly starts to disappear... and the wound begins to close and heal, as 
he sacrifices his God-Power to restore the life of his sister.

A second bird appears, this time over Winterheart. Devilbird, shining and pale 
with black and gray wings, much smaller than his father fighting up in the sky 
above, sits perching on top of the Shinra building. He doesn't damage it, just 
watching the fight above, not planning to interfer in any way.

Above Bluefinger Port, a long necked bird joins him from the ocean, flying in 
with wide wingspan that rivals that of the sea-man God. Why Anhinga has chosen 
to appear is probably of much debate. Maybe she just wants to watch the 
destruction that will change the world...

In the center of the sky, still visible to all, Roc and Thunderbird continue to 
tumble, as if some force is keeping them from falling to the earth. Some unseen 
force is holding them aloft as Roc's wing-strokes leseen. The hold Thunderbird 
has on him should be pulling them both down, but something, or someone (or 
someone/s/) are holding them up, wrapped in this brutal tangle of a God fight.

Even then, they still slip down closer and closer. Whatever is holding them up 
won't hold them up much longer.



     Well, allow Siren to one day write a formal letter of apology to all those 
his terror-induced habits may have. The gameboard is a place where things may be 
extremely messed up and horrible things happen day in and day out, but never 
before has a pair of -gods-, let alone a -master- god and the embodiment of all 
things Chaos butt heads and begin tearing each other apart. No, he has not 
actually wet himself, however his fear is legitimate-- in fact, he finds it more 
-disturbing- people are being as calm as they are.

     Well, except for that cute crazy chick.

     With the porn shop destroyed and one of Kakashi and Siren's oldest 
legitimate hangouts wiped out, it will be a sad day when all of these things are 
said and done. Siren taps a finger to his temple and begins to turn his gaze 
left and right, the thermographic filter in his vision changing up the way he 
percieves the world. "We have a cluster down on that block, four lost fuckers 
over there, and --" He turns around to face a small crowd of people watching the 
skies and clamoring about the end of days.

     "WILL YOU PEOPLE SHUT THE FUCK UP?!"

     Turning so sharply on his heel one would think the stone ground would crack, 
he whistles sharply and points to the scales on the way down-- and the blood. 
"If Pepe le Shinybag there can keep shooting the godfuckin' THINGS down before 
they hit people, fine, but we need ... like. REALLY FUCKING BIG UMBRELLAS here. 
That's a lot of fucking bloo--"

     Cut off, on that note, as a stream of blood slams square into his chest and 
throws him back a good twenty-five feet, sliding on the slickness of the god-
liquids and his coat. Guildenstern has been spared, fluttering around and 
gawking in a way that only a Haro can gawk.



     Tugged and pulled, River will go--but if pointed toward a place and told to 
go, River just... won't. It's nothing so obvious as digging her heels in; she'll 
start that way, and then, two seconds later, appear right back where the rest of 
them are. "Move move move!" she chants, flailing her arms at the gawkers in the 
streets and running /right at them/ if they don't move. "He hit the board in a 
fit of anger and the pieces scattered! CRUNCH they go underfoot, they don't 
care!" Yet, despite her urging of other people to move, she doesn't exactly move 
toward shelter herself.



This is what Vox was made for. A sword in the dark, a protector for mere mortals. 
And some not-so-mere mortals, too. It would help, of course, if his full array 
of Charms was at his disposal, but... even as another scale is falling, Vox 
continues to move, sprinting up a flight of stairs so fast he leaves a golden 
afterimage in his wake. Raw power flares around him once more as he leaps off 
the building's roof to intercept ANOTHER scale.

This time, there's no simple slashing barrage and a punch. This time, Vox /cuts 
the scale in half/, white lightning crackling up and down his blade as he kicks 
off the severed halves, sending one plummeting into the already-wrecked porn 
shop and the other into a spin that will drop it on a clear spot in the road.

As for Vox himself, he drops onto Siren's balcony with a grunt, dropping to his 
knees to absorb the inertia. As luck or fate would have it, he lands ten feet 
from where Siren is sprawled in the god-blood.



"Yes sir, Siren," calls Halley, his head shaking as he 'pulls' the telepathy 
away from Vox' head. He's pretty sure the guy got it, but he's not positive. 
Going to have to hope, though. There's no time to poke him a few more times and 
see if it'll work. Let's see. There's Kakashi. So Siren's got someone working on 
that side. He'll keep working on this side. And he'll keep a half-eye on River, 
too. She's got the right idea, getting people toward cover. But hell, _she_ 
should be getting under cover, too!
     Oh, and don't worry, Siren. He's scared shitless. It's just that being 
scared shitless, in Halley's case, means he gets to break down _afterwards_. 
This isn't the first ugly, disgusting, rotting god he's seen up close and 
personal.



Giant, unimaginably powerful beings looming over his (adopted) hometown, 
potentially ready to destroy it--wow, what does that remind Kakashi of? He feels 
his face twitching beneath his mask, and yet again he's very relieved he wears 
the damn thing.

That's about when Siren takes a gout of god-blood to the chest. Kakashi jolts. 
He doesn't know what that stuff does, but he's pretty sure it can't be good--and 
he definitely doesn't want to see the leader of this place have to sacrifice 
himself to save Promethea. He's seen that sort of thing happen one too many 
times already.

Kakashi blinks out of existence from his spot just outside the rubble of the 
porn shop, reappearing next to Siren. Then he reaches out to try to steady 
Promethea's leader. "Where should we be taking the civilians?" he says in a low 
voice. "I have a jutsu--" Actually, he has about a thousand jutsu, but he 
doesn't have the time to do any of the more complex ones right now. "I'll make a 
passage underground for them to take there."



     Wiping the blood off his face and slicking back his bangs with an angry 
face, his luminescent blue eyes seem all the more creepy when covered with 
divine blood. "FUCK!" he screams, grabbing on the ninja's hand and pulling 
himself up to his feet. "Kakashi! Right now, I'm trying to pack people into the 
government building-- send them there as fast as you can. There aren't many 
other reinforced building structures that'll stand up to the impact of something 
huge like this!" he yells, hand on Kakashi's shoulder to keep his eyes on his 
one and making sure his voice carries through the clamor of people and gods. "My 
apartment building is on the other side of the city, if it looks like things 
ain't safe, start packing people in there and set up a defense line around the 
block!"

     Stripping off his coat and throwing it to the sides, the man's mangled 
torso seems to be relatively blood-free for the most part, thank god for the 
advent of plastic clothing. "The-- LOOK OUT!" he yells as one of the birds 
nearly crashes into the city some distance away. The other bird prevents this, 
and disappears to heal the one large one, safe from the city limits. Grabbing 
his head, he starts stomping his feet. "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! This is so 
fucking FUCKED UP!"

     He turns toward Vox, pointing up to the sky. "HEY FLYING DUDE! KEEP THAT 
SHIT UP AN' I MIGHT GIVE YOU A JOB!" he says. And River-- shit, what can she do? 
He needs help right now, but too many people without the skills required may be 
a problem...



Oh good god. No pun intended. What was _that_? Halley's eyes almost bulge as he 
sees the happening of the gods over that-a-way, his face going pale. Feel better, 
Siren? Now you're not the only one looking scared. Something finally broke into 
Halley's weird-shit-o-meter enough to get real reaction out of him. "I... have 
no clue what that was all about," he says, whimpering slightly. "But I don't 
like it one bit." His eyes stir with colors again, a pressure washing from him 
over the ground. A telekinetic wave beginning for a moment as his control grows 
shaky and the power starts to flow out of him. Halley's control only lasts so 
long. And that 'so long' has finally hit.
     But it's not going to stop him from trying to continue. Shakily, he keeps 
his feet as best he can, making a staggering run toward the building and helping 
to drive a few more people in. Then, it's off in another direction. Because 
there's people there that'll have to go elsewhere. The government building is 
getting full.



Vox just blinks at Siren for a second, before mentally shrugging. Mortals say 
strange things under stress -- and that mortal looks odder than most, though his 
implants are rather comforting to Vox; a touch of home. Vox stares up at the sky 
again, zooming in and picking out falling bits. "The next fall of scales appears 
to be landing in the blight zone west of here. We have a small breathing space." 
Pause. "I hope those two finish, one way or another. The side effects of their 
fight are getting harder to tamp down, and I don't have unlimited Essence to 
spend."



From the Skies:

 The slow motion thumbling continues, as if the Gods are falling through air 
thickened with power, but Roc isn't going to accept defeat so easily. He is the 
strongest of the Gods and he will prove it. Right here. Right now.

His talons grip into Thunderbird, pulling him closer, as close as he can, 
causing the Chaos God's claws to dig deeper into his own flesh. Gritting against 
the pain, the mighty beak of the coldest God in the Pantheon lowers, finding the 
head of Thunderbird and clasing it. He's just enough bigger than the other god 
to grab his head in his beak. The curved upper bill digs throat, while the lower 
bursts Thunderbird's black eye, spilling liquid and forcing the God to emit a 
roar so loud it really does shake the earth with like nearby thunder, everywhere.

The claws buried in Roc's stomach pull out, legs flinging around trying to free 
the head that has been grabbed, but black talons lash out, grabbing hold once 
again of the smaller, yellow-green bird...

And he rears back. The sickening rip of the wing being pulled out is made a 
dwarf by the tearing of rotted flesh and muscle that comes with the head of the 
Chaos God being pulled off.

The leader of the Evil Gods throws the head aside carelessly, and it goes 
crashing somewhere into the Dark Forest, knocking down trees and sending the 
monsters who have long inhabited that forest to their deaths.

And then... Roc vanishes. Fading out into nothing in the sky above. And the 
ravaged and torn body of Thunderbird begins the long fall to the earth below, 
and no thickening of the air does not seem to be enough to stop him...

Devilbird takes off from the Shinra building and flaps up into the air above 
Winterheart.

Anhinga glides over Bluefinger Port, and circles around to cry out as a brightly 
colored bird appears, perched atop the Temple of Parrot.

A bright red bird appears above Promethea, flapping his wings in a display of 
his red-colored beauty and he is joined by a bluer version of himself. Cardinal 
and Bluejay have never been pals, but they appear to be willing to work together 
this time. They are joined by a myriad of small birds, many sizes and colors. 
Promethea was once the 'home' of the 'Little Birds' and once again they seem to 
want to protect it as their own.

Above Middleton, a single bird appears. As big as Roc was, wings spreading so 
wide they cover the entirety of her city, protecting it. She's multi-colored, 
shimmering blues and greens and other soft colors. Her neck is long and magestic, 
with a long crest visible as she extends her protection. The sense of outside 
assistance can be felt, as if someone invisible and hidden is giving her power. 
After all. Great Horned Owl might be Simurgh's campanion, but he always tended 
to keep himself rather elusive in his guardianship.

Golden Hall hears a roar of fire, as a bird wrapped in the burning feathers 
bursts out of the ground where the Temple that she called home used to stand. 
She rises up above the city, spreading her flaming wings out in an attempt to 
shield it. Beside her, a tall white bird appears, princely and strong, long neck 
stretched as if to offer her the little power that he can. Other birds, birds of 
prey and hunting, Falcon, Hawk, Eagle and Saker, fly beside their leader God, 
offering her their strength, and showing their concern for the pieces below.



     River? She can kill large hordes of people without getting a drop of blood 
on her, she can dance fifty-seven different dances flawlessly and recite the 
encylopedia backward, and she can probably rig a jet-propulsion engine given a 
few paperclips, some spit, and a rubber band... but none of it is exactly 
helpful here.
     Nor, at the moment, is she--for as the god crashes into the ground, 
followed swiftly by another one, she halts in her dancing, flailing attempt to 
move people toward cover. It's more than a halt--she goes utterly, 
preternaturally still. "... a sacrifice," she murmurs to herself, "the bonds of 
brotherhood are deep..." For a moment, tears glimmer in her eyes. The next 
instant, she's in motion again--but the motion is utterly different from before. 
Rather than frantic and flailing, she flows, almost gliding across the ground as 
she moves toward the flow of shelter-seekers and begins to direct them toward 
the same safe-houses Halley does. Somewhere along the way, she picks up a 
twisted iron bar, the remains of some ruined building.



Yeah, 'fucking fucked up' pretty well describes the whole situation, even if 
Kakashi wouldn't say so in as many words. (He'll leave that to Siren!) "Try not 
to let that stuff work its way into your electronics," he advises without 
inflection. He has no idea what the god-blood does and little more about what 
all of Siren's wacky cybernetics are, but he's sure their interaction wouldn't 
have good results.

Then, once Siren is up and about again, Kakashi steps away. He flicks a kunai 
out and lets its edge bite into his fingers. Blood dripping from then, he 
performs handseals, and in several puffs of smoke, a set of dogs pops into 
existence. The ninja crouches by them. "Find as many people as you can and get 
them to the government building. Go." And the nin-dogs scatter.

Kakashi himself stands and looks back up at the sky just in time to see the 
wrecked that was, a moment ago, the great god of chaos in the process of 
plummeting down. Then the smaller gods begin to fill the sky over Promethea. He 
flinches back, closing his Sharingan against the onslaught of brilliant 
spiritual energy.

But he can't stand there squinting at the spectacle in the sky forever, or even 
for more than a few seconds. He jerks himself back to the ground and begins 
furiously forming seals with his hands. "Doton: chikadou no jutsu!" And he pulls 
his hands apart from each other, drops to a crouch again, and sets his hands on 
the ground.

In front of him, the ground ripples and bulges as a passageway tears through the 
earth. It's probably knocking out more than a few basements in the process. 
He'll apologize for the property damage later.

Finally, the ground beneath Kakashi himself gives way, and he falls several feet 
into the start of the tunnel. There's a beat, and then he jumps lightly back out. 
Now he's not only smeared and dusty from the debris of the original building 
that almost fell on him--he's also covered in dirt. "Get as many civilians as 
possible through this passage," he calls.



Vox watches impassively as Roc rips off Thunderbird's head, and dozens of birds 
gather in the skies overhead. It's not entirely certain how much he understands 
of what he's seeing -- or perhaps he understands more. "Everyone should brace 
themselves," he says levelly, extinguishing his beamklave. He doesn't, however, 
take cover -- standing next to Siren, his eyes tracking the ruin of Thunderbird. 
Almost diffidently, he remarks to the 'mayor' of Promethea, "Incidentially, I am 
called Clear-Seeing Vox. A pleasure to meet you, under the circumstances."


Halley, on the other hand, knows exactly what he's looking at. Mainly because he 
recognizes a few of those birds from other images. "Awww YEAH!" he says, leaping 
in the air, hat yanked from his head to wave up at the birds in a gleeful 
greeting. Particularly a certain striped-beak bird that he's sure must be in 
there somewhere. "GOOOO! Keep that smelly thing out of Promethe-... eh?" Uh. Oh. 
It's falling.
     "OHHHH MAN." he says as the hat gets yanked over his own head, scurrying 
suddenly to give River a little push. "Come on. We gotta get somewhere safe. 
When that thing hits, it's gonna be a shake-fit. HURRY HURRY!" She's obviously 
seeing things that he's not, or something, but at the same time, he's not going 
to trust that she can keep from getting smushed.



     Much the same situation for a human being like Siren-- as much as he's only 
barely 'human', and as much as his presence likes to warp all things magical or 
supernatural, he's better at attacking things face to face. Unless you count the 
paperwork as being an epic war? Kakashi does that ninja shit again-- god he'd 
love to learn how to do that, and be all WOOTAH and fucking your shit up with 
one of those awesome knives-- and breaks open the ground in the most flamboyant 
of ways, digging a path all the way to the government building with his skills.

     Chicks dig guys who have skills.

     While River and Halley herd people, Siren grabs a few men by the arm and 
points to the tunnel with his middle finger. And then he turns, just in time to 
see the most fucked up thing that he's ever seen in the entirety of his life. 
The head severs, his eyes widen, and he cups his hands over his mouth. "EVERYONE 
TAKE COVER!" he booms in a voice he's not normally known for, turning back 
around to run toward the tunnel-- and stops. His eyes widen as birds emerge from 
all over, giant winged beasts that flutter to and fro with their divinity all 
over the place. It's a little strange for someone like him, what with his total 
lack of faith in most things, god(s) included, and he really does have to take a 
minute to stop and watch.

     He heard you, Vox, honestly-- he's just a little scatterbrained at the 
moment.



     Blinking as she's pushed, River turns halfway to glance at the boy, then 
glances up at the birds filling the air. A slow smile spreads on her face, and 
she points up at them. "There is nowhere to run, and nowhere to be but here," 
she says calmly, and just moves back a step or two, heading to the clearest 
space she can find. "Hang on...." Raising the bar high overhead, she moves 
toward the clearest spot she can find, and drives it down deeply into the earth, 
between cracked paving stones--and there she'll stay, on one knee and holding 
onto the makeshift handle bar with all her might.



Hmmm. This really doesn't look good. Kakashi looks up at the sky once more 
(squinting his Sharingan closed again). He takes a deep breath, and then, in a 
voice just as uncharacteristic for him as that yell was for Siren, he calls out, 
"Get into the tunnel! It won't cave in--I'm reinforcing it with chakra!"

And then he jumps back into the tunnel again. Indeed, those with spiritual sight 
will be able to see the sudden crackle of blue-white spirit energy flowing along 
the tunnel, holding the walls and ceiling in place.



And with people scurrying for cover and all that rot, the girl is... not going 
anywhere? She's just digging in right there? At first, Halley's expression when 
he looks at her is absolutely flabbergasted. He could just drag her inside, 
right?
     ... but think about it: she's acting like she knows something. And hell. 
You've dealt with Mom more than enough. Maybe this girl _does_ know exactly what 
she's talking about. And all things considered, it's about the best chance he 
has. Especially since, honestly, there probably _is_ nowhere else to run.
     "Alright!" And Halley does hold on, if not how River intended for him to. 
He presses tight up against her, arms wrapping around to both protect the girl 
and to get a hold of the bar. He then ducks his head, pressing in as much as 
possible, to make sure that they're braced for whatever impact is coming... and 
making sure that if anything _does_ topple from above to land on them, it'll hit 
him first. He's pretty sure he can take it.



From the Skies:

 The sky above Winterheart is oddly... empty in comparison to the other places, 
but Devilbird gives a loud cry, and order, and suddenly a few more birds appear. 
Both share Devilbird's pale body, dark winged features, but they are more 
predatory in shape. Goshawk and Osprey. Another bird, with black tipped wings 
and a gray body, flies out to offer his assistance... Harrier. They extend their 
power, picking a small area to protect and a black shield appears above 
Winterheart, encompassing about sixty percent of the city. As soon as the shield 
lowers... all the tremors within it stop, as if it is pulled out of the realm of 
danger.

Above Promethea, the Gods focus all their energy into a silver shield, 
reminicent of the moon, which wraps over the land, covering it the old city as 
well as the new, and the mountain which made the land special.

Above Bluefinger Port, Anhinga and Parrot conserve their power, choosing only to 
protect the tiny port itself and the docks, their shield as brightly colored as 
the bird who claims the port as his home, with a swirling aspect of Chaos that 
seems to touch to Anhinga's tint.

The blue and green wings of Simurgh lower down, embracing her city and the 
immediate surrounding area entirely, while a gray barrier forms above and around 
her.

Golden Hall's is bright gold and dazzling red, formed out of Phoenix's burning 
feathers, reaching out to embrace the wilds around it as well, fueled by the 
added power of her lover, Swan, and the birds of prey who lead her court. Or at 
least, most of her court. Hawk lets out a sudden yell and breaks off, flying 
towards the direction of Winterheart, joined oddly enough by a small yellow 
Canary, where they join the Evil Gods in protecting Winterheart, or particularly 
the outskirts, creating a small bubble of purple and yellow that touches the 
black bubble.

...Even then, Thunderbird's impact can still be heard. His body hits the ground 
between Bluefinger Port and Middleton, throwing up the mountains and the earth. 
The ground not protected by the Gods... shatters in many places. As if the 
gameboard was flat and hollow, rock is thrown up all over, splintering the earth. 
Pieces of the gameworld crash into the shields erected by the various Gods, 
bouncing off. The seas of the Wild Tide expand, crashing up against the shield 
of Bluefinger Port, coursing into the game board and into the cracks created by 
Thunderbird's fall, creating an ocean the world over, with the protected areas 
becoming the new islands.

The main cities are intact, except for Winterheart. The unprotected portions of 
the city, mostly the slums and outter regions like the Bog and the Gulags... 
crash into the rising waters, breaking off, leaving the people there to fend for 
themselves, though the added protection of the two Good Gods who decided to 
throw their lot up with Winterheart help protect small portions of the Wilds 
connecting to the city itself.



Vox casually steps off the balcony edge, dropping to the ground with a THOOM and 
cratering it slightly. Stepping out into the middle of the street, not too far 
from Halley and River, Vox sits down crosslegged. Calmly, he recites, "Lo, 
though I walk through the blight zone of corruption, I will fear no death, for 
the Maker is with me--" And then Thunderbird hits and even though Promethea is 
protected, he bounces like a tennis ball. Oof.



     Kakashi yells, but Siren doesn't seem to hear it. He is, without a doubt, 
blown away with what he sees-- and not Halley, not River, not even the fist of 
god is going to shake him from that stupor. The man stands a little plainly, 
relaxed, and wanting to see just what the -fuck- is going to come next, not so 
much get himself totally killed.

     Thunderbird falls. Unless someone's grabbed him by the slick blood-soaked 
steel arm by now, the impact is viewed right where he stands, right there out in 
the open with the shimmering shield and the rocks that slam violently against 
them. Perhaps there's some kind of sensory overload that prevents his better 
logic from kicking in (as if he has it), but he cannot help himself, there's 
just no ifs ands or buts about it.

     Good thing the shields protect Promethea.

     And when it's all over, when everything settles, he ... ... continues to 
stare.

For a moment, there is silence from within the tunnel, save for the shocked 
murmurs of those who did take shelter there. Then the chakra shield around it 
vanishes from spiritual perception. Kakashi leaps out from the earth. For just a 
moment, he wavers on his feet.

Then he pulls his hitai-ate back down over his Sharingan. "That," he says, 
raising his gaze to the sky, "was an interesting experience." He turns to Siren. 
"Ah...wasn't it?"

Then he slumps back against the nearest wall still standing.



From the Skies:

 The crashing sounds of the earth outside and the rushing of water take time to 
fade out, but when they do the various shields disappear. Canary and Hawk are 
the first to disappear, before the Evil Gods can focus their attention elsewhere. 
The Gods over Winterheart go next, not willing to feel guilt over the shattered 
parts of the city they could not protect. After all, they should get credit for 
protecting it at all. Roc certainly didn't, even if he ended the Chaos madness 
in revenge for his Priest and the Hall of Justice that stood to show his power 
for thousands of years.

The protection above Promethea and Bluefinger disappears, the various small gods 
fading into the sky as they are weakened by their attempt to protect. Parrot 
lets out a loud cry before he does, "Arr! The oceans a callin' me 
matties!" ...Yeah, go figure.

Golden Hall and Middleton are protected the longest, as they guarded the largest 
areas and are afraid of the edges breaking off if they release it too quickly. 
The other Gods helping Phoenix vanish first, drained of power, and then the 
flaming wings fade out, and a sheen of ash falls down on the city below, as the 
God burns herself out to be reborn again later. Simurgh rises up, wings giving a 
light tap, and one of her brilliant feathers falls of, landing on the place 
where the All God's Temple used to be, and sticking there without causing extra 
damage. A piece of her to stay behind, as she disappears to rest.

A few small chunks of the newly made islands do break off, and others begin to 
create beaches in places and cliff-faces in others. Various islands appear in 
the wilds, high areas protected from the falls, or freak dream twistings created 
by a Lucidi or a Font, long protected by during creation process even from the 
destruction of today...

But Thunderbird may have indeed got what he wanted. The Game is broken and he is 
free now. Free forever, a part of the surging wild ocean that threatens to one 
day fully swallow the world that he was denied.



     Well. There was no shaking, no reason to hang on to anything, which means 
Halley just wrapped himself around her for no particular reason, and River is 
now free to give him a long look filled with the kind of unimpressed hauteur 
only a teenaged girl can manage. She doesn't move to remove him forcibly, though; 
instead, she just turns her gaze to the mumbling Vox, brows knitting together. 
More of that religion stuff she never quite understood?
     Either way, it seems it's over... "And past time too," she says aloud. 
Releasing the iron bar, she stands--presumably once Halley's detached--looks 
around again, and says, "The apricots need harvesting." Then she begins to walk 
off as calmly as anything. She'll quickly disappear down the street, melding 
into the shattered city that no longer is quite as shattered as what surrounds 
it.



Slowly, Halley lifts his head. What? No giant impact? No crunching weight? No 
rocks being flung around? Well that's a good thing, at least. If... surprising. 
And that's when he realizes just where he is. Clutching around some girl that he 
doesn't even know. His cheeks flame _red_ as he quickly unravels and lets River 
free from the protective clench. "Eh. Sorry." he says as he straightens his cap 
quickly while she goes to... uh... harvest her apricots?
     Standing up and dusting his hands off, he notices Siren over there, 
watching the goings on. And... staring. And staring. And staring. And... staring. 
And finally, Halley just walks over there, leaning slightly up to glance into 
the President's eyes. "Uh. Hey Si? You in there?" He brings a hand up to wave in 
front of Siren's face. And he even give a little telepathic 'prod', though he's 
pretty sure metal-man won't even feel it, all things considered. ~Hey, y'Ok?~



     He doesn't feel it, Halley-- in fact, it sounds like bad television static 
up in his ol' noggin.

     His reaction is something like River's own, strange and out there. Though 
he needs not apricots. He has gods. He has drama. He has the world changed 
forever, at the hand of a god of chaos that was wrested from the game for all 
eternity in a single and devistating move by the lord of all that is evil. What 
does one say when something like this has happened? What do you do? Where do you 
go? What do you -think-?

     Without blinking even once, his hanging jaw slides closed as he tries to 
find the words.

     His lips suddenly trumpet out and his eyebrows furrow. "... I really gotta 
go puke now."

     Patting Halley on the head, he runs to the nearest wall to go do just that.