The Final Loop

[eternitymods]

Who: Everyone
When: April 11th - Last Loop
Where: Curti Center, Sen Devadatta
What: Final Loop before the final confrontation against the Empress and Bahamut.
Warnings/Notes: ??????

Comments

[littlemhigan]

Castor was tired. Six long months had taken its toll on her, and even with time unwinding, it nevertheless had left evidence of it's passage. It could be seen in the tight lines of stress along her face, and in the dark bags that hung heavy under her eyes.

But here she was, keeping her gaze on the endless blue of the sky, awaiting the moment it changes.

"I ain't lettin' anyone worth savin' die today."

[einspine]

"AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL STAND STRONG AS A SHIELD FOR ALL THOSE IN NEED!!! BECAUSE I CAN ALWAYS CAST BONE BARRIER IF NEED BE!"

For now, he's dressed in his usual garb. Lab coat over his battle body, goggles, the whole nine yards. He's wearing his Cool Scientist asterisk, with Chemist and Gourmand on standby. Should the need arise, he'll swap to Magitek with his Chemist skill, but for now...

He activates Robuddy in attack mode, leaving it as a roaming, robotic turret for the time being.

Otherwise, he remains on guard.

[failtsuninari]

"For the sake of this world and ours, we will prevail," Kenichi said with a nod. He gripped his spear with one hand but gave his trusty chocobo a pat on the head.

"Thanks for being here, Kohaku. It's been a long journey but we've made it." The chocobo trilled at the praise given to her by the cavalier. With his Dragoon job on standby, Kenichi hoped the extra speed boosts will help. As he went into War Stance, a red aura surrounds the duo.

[eternitymods]

While there was no sign of the Empress yet, the King of Eidolons did spot the Heroes of Light. Flying toward them, the Eidolon stopped at a distance and looked down upon them before starting charging its fabled Teraflare attack.

The attack would go off within second. No time to escape and it was doubtful any regular skill would shield properly against an attack that had the power to raze entire cities to the ground. If the Heroes of Light didn't attack Bahamut now with the Legendary Eidolons, odds were they would never have the chance to do so.

[topgun_textiles]

"Shit! Now's the time!"

Kanji bore down and swept his hand over the greatsword now in his hands, a corona of ice energy flowing through it. He couldn't summon, but goddamn it, he'd do what he could to survive.

[songbird_slayer]

She hefted her staff and thrust the end into the earth. Madhuri began to gather power, causing the air to sing. She would put everything she could into this Medica, ready to set it off once all hell broke loose.

That... that would be soon.

[modelcivilian]

If Bahamut wanted to do this, he was ready to do this. He didn't know how well Eye for an Eye would work in this case, but he was prepared for the strike and responding in kind. They just needed to hold everything off until the Summoners could do their thing.

[hatejakku]

As soon as the dragon came in sight, he unsheathed and ignited the lightsaber. Though, while he knew Bahamut was fast, he seemed a lot faster than he thought. The Eidolon was already on them, readying an attack.

Which was interesting. This great beast saw them as a threat and paused to attack. No time to think about it now.

He clutched the crystal in his free hand and... had absolutely no idea how to go about this. So he pulled on what he felt from summoning Ramuh and Titan before, trying to drive it into this crystal. "Zodiark!"

[whirluendo_of_puns]

Now.

He knew this feeling. The spike of anxiety just before you entered the stage; the surge of confidence as you stood before the audience and knew exactly what to do. Heart pounding, riding on the emotional high, Uendo held the crystal flower aloft.

"Grace us with your purifying flames! Come, Phoenix!"

Perhaps the incantation wasn't strictly speaking needed, but what sort of an entertainer would he be if he didn't do his job with flair?

[pishirogane]

So, Bahamut was making the first move. Fine then...

Asking for aid from the spider Chemist, Naoto switched Asterisks without interruption, grabbing her staff in one hand while gripping the egg-shaped crystal from Maria in the other.

Magic and miracles she said, right? Well, they were going to need that.

Bringing the crystal to her chest and holding her staff out as if to aim at the dragon, she felt the well of magic she'd become accustomed to take a new form. The weight of the air seemed heavier.

"Let's go, Asura!"

[peace_through_empathy]

"Healers, at the ready!" Megatron yells as the dragon and the four summoners prepare their attacks; his voice is loud, authoritative, commanding, and his Scholar's Tome is out and prepped, and ready with a healing spell to go, and a priority list of healing targets of the allies immediately surrounding him should the attack hit. "Prioritize your targets!"

With any luck, these summons they've worked so hard to acquire will stop Bahamut's attack dead in its tracks...but Megatron hasn't come this far by gambling solely on luck. The attack might still go off, but be reduced in effectiveness. The healers will be ready, come hell or high water; Megatron will make certain of that.

[singerofspells]

"Let us see how well this works," S'reee said, throwing up a Disguise to mimic Finn (as the first summoner she saw starting to cast). She wasn't sure how well an Asterisk designed for a biped would cover her, but she hoped it would give Bahamut a pause in identifying where the summoners were.

[shinra_dog]

Reno was there, of course. He couldn't miss this day. Not after facing it for the last six months and dying each time. Reno was finished dying here.

He squeezed Johnny's hand. "We're not done here yet," he said simply with a smirk.

Activating Dragon Heart, he waited for the inevitable pain of Bahamut's attack. As long as he could survive, he'd be ready to throw his all at Ramaa.

[transect]

After going through this— how many times now?— Rutile was more than ready. The look in their eyes said as much, and raising their tome high above them, the light of Succor spiraled out from them extending over everyone close to them, a sparkling shield of protection.

[masqueraid]

Ren had discarded his glasses this time, ready to face Bahamut with the new power, and knowledge, that had been bestowed upon all of them. The butterfly-shaped crystal remained in his grasp as his long coat fluttered with help of all the magic in the air.

His gaze lowered, focusing on the great dragon, and he felt all too much like he had when he first called on his powers back home. Anticipation, uncertainty... and perhaps even a tinge of fear. But nothing in his expression betrayed any of that, as he tightened his grip on the sacred object he held.

He could feel it pulsating with energy the more he concentrated, the more he put those skills sensei had taught them to work, and then... Pitiful creature, why dost thou call my name? I am both light eternal and the deep sin of the darkness...

Wait, had he imagined that just now? ...Did it matter?

"That's right. I call upon your power—" his conviction, hearing that voice, was stronger than ever, "Alexander!"

[pidgeypidge]

While everyone else was giving their impassioned speeches, Pidge was just sort of... standing off to the side to wait for things to happen. She'd assumed, of course, that she'd be going into this with the other Paladins, but obviously she'd been wrong.

So here she was, Magitek Bracelet standing by on her wrist, Catmancer equipped. For something she'd picked up on a whim, she was actually enjoying it.

For the moment, Pidge decided to just wait and let the more qualified people handle things. She wasn't a summoner or a healer, so it'd probably be smarter to wait. There wasn't much she could do against a giant dragon, anyway.

[eternitymods]

As the Summoners summoned the four Legendary Eidolons, the ground started shaking. But before any Eidolon could answer their call, the King of Eidolons cast its fabled Teraflare attack upon them.

It happened within the blink of an eye. The gigantic ball of energy was unleashed upon the gathered Heroes of Light, ignoring all defenses they had prepared. The size of the impact was larger than the city itself: there was no escaping it.

All the Heroes of Light are dead.

2/2

[eternitymods]

> Flames of Rebirth

The Heroes of Light are revived. Indeed, mere seconds after their untimely death, the Heroes of Light find themselves standing, fully healed and with no scratch, as if nothing had happened. Their gear, items and pets are also all intact and well. To find the reasons for such a miracle, they wouldn't have to look far. Above them was flying a gigantic and majestic red bird, Phoenix.

And the ground was still shaking. Should they look at their feet where the crater resulting from the Teraflare impact should have been, they would instead find... Steel? They were standing upon a machine of some sort, a gigantic robot that was emerging from the ground. Even as it happened, Bahamut was already charging another Teralare and cast it toward the Heroes once moreù

> Divine Judgement

White wings sprouted from the machine, enveloping the area before the Heroes of Light. They would be able to hear the impact of Teraflare against the wings, only to see the energy resulting from the attack being absorbed and redirected as light of rays to attack Bahamut.

The Heroes of Light are protected from Bahamut's attacks.

[bleating_heart]

Asriel jolts upright, sitting up after being dead. Again. And then alive. Again. Again.

"hnNNNNGHHHH, NEVER GONNA GET USED TO THAT"

He says, hauling himself awkwardly up as he sends hasting time magic towards Uendo and the giant freaking firebird.

"YES. THANK YOU. GOOD GIANT BIRD PLEASE KEEP DOING THAT."

[mech_and_mutt]

That.

was hands-down.

The coolest thing Red had ever seen. Tempered only slightly by the fact that colossal mecha appearing at the apocalypse were, by his experiences, usually a bad thing.

But having them be on his side for a change? That was a very welcome change. And when Red recovered from the initial shock--

"...sapristi...!"

He was back to gripping the controls of the DAHAK Mk. III, a far more genuine and confident grin slowly spreading across his face. Maybe this time they actually had a chance. Following suit in his own way, the ports on his mech's arms burned bright with his •Magitek Lasers at the--

...as an afterthought, he turned back towards Ren. "Please tell me you get to pilot this eidolon?"

[acapriciousreaper]

Not for the first time, Kuja witnesses a fight between Eidolons.

Not for the first time, he watches the protective light of Alexander shrug off the Wyrmking's best with contemptuous ease.

It's his first time being on Alexander's side in that exchange, however. It's working. It's working. "Strike now! Defend the Summoners, Ramaa will interfere!"

He [Focus]es and waits for the attack he knows is coming, ready to [Reflect] any magic aimed at the Summoners back at Ramaa when she makes her appearance.

[einspine]

Nodding at Kuja's remark, Papyrus launches a Blue Attack. He's not sure if it'll work on such a powerful target, but if all works well, it should hopefully at least stun him momentarily.

His Robuddy follows this with a blast of bone-based projectiles, even if the small turret can't begin to compare to the mighty Eidolons.

[plagueofshadows]

Plague Knight reels for a moment from the experience of being so handily obliterated one moment, and then alive the next, but he doesn't dwell on it for long.

He dashes over to stand beside the summoners, very clearly the most important people to keep alive in this phase of things, and readies a Mega Potion in case they're targeted, as with the first time they'd done this fight, there's no sense being conservative with items in the supposed final battle.

"Now that's an impressive display of magic, hee!"

[bladeofconquest]

This is like nothing Corrin has ever seen before, but only heard of in ancient, epic legends dating back to before the founding of Nohr and Hoshido. And what survives of those are notably lacking in giant robots.

Shrugging off her very temporary death-she's frankly become far too used to that sort of thing by now-she makes a gesture with her free arm to summon the mystical flames of [Ragnarok], dealing powerful fire damage, reducing Bahamut's ability to critical by 15%, while reducing Corrin's Attack Power and Magical Potency by one rank each, recovering one rank per turn. The eruption of fire streaks upwards with the rest of the attacks to strike Bahamut. "For Vaikuntha!"

[topgun_textiles]

Summoner defense. He could do that.

With a roar he advanced between Teraflares, the greatsword cleaving great lines of ice magic-empowered air foils. He started with a channeled Helm Smash, lowering foe defense by 5%. It wasn't much, but anything to get through a scaly bastard's hide.