Masks 2

Esen freezes in terror for the first part of the battle, unable to move, the song pressing against her mind, but she finally snaps out of it and rushes towards Maria. She stands with the other defenders and tries to split her hookshot as much as she can, filling the air with the invisible force of the tendrils snapping about. She keeps an eye out for Siren, though - if the villain ever got close enough, Esen planned on trying to grab and pull her in with all of her strength at once.

Polybius had died and resurrected many times in the past, but Ken was always distraught when his robotic companion fell.

Ken grabs Polybius. After grabbing it, he sends a technopathic command at the crab-cars to fight amongst each other.

Oh, yeah, there's that exhaustion. All Zil wants to do is sleep. Instead, she asks Tim nicely if he can turn into anything besides a sword. Maybe something that can shoot through water and had long range? It's time for a nap, though. A nap and a lotta food...

Siren holds back, psionically ordering her minions to their various tasks. Her hands shake a little on the spear as she surveys the damage. Dumb droid gone, poor Stormy... Rude cowboy slashed but fine. Scungy hacker likewise. Coyote... down. The puns are getting drowned out by the increasingly loud eldritch jam in her head.

"Are you ready to surrender yet? You can still make this right! We can all see the new world together!"

"Not surrenderin' until ye've got that thing outta yer head an' yer on the surface with us again!"

Finn's grip on her sword tightens. God there's nothing she can do to stop this, but she'll remain on guard! If Coyote goes down, they're all dead!

More of these, huh? Well, that sucks, but this wasn't a time to lose focus on the goal. The goal was Siren, and removing Siren's ability to channel this goddamn Song.

"I joined the Menders to stop this kind of thing from happening. We're not just going to surrender! We'll... we'll try to help you, okay?"

Theraea reached out with her telekinesis and tried to wrangle Siren as she monologued. If she could just pull her into the air bubble, she'd be vulnerable.

The cowboy in question covers the cut like it didn't happen.

"Ha! Missed me, fishbreath!"

Sam pulls a tin from his pocket, decorated in "EMERGENCY ONLY" and "DANGER" stickers, and gives his brother a nod. He and his brother had never gone to college...

... After all, rodeo clowns are taught by apprenticeship.

He applies rodeo clown makeup to his face, two black stars surrounding each eye, and looks to the rest of the group.

"I'll work on lurin' her back in! If she attacks me or Jim, we can dodge! Jim, she's faster than anything else we ever fought, be careful!"

He draws the revolver and starts helping fight the horde of fish monsters while generally clowning around and taunting Siren.

"Hey yer song sucks! It's really OFF TUNA!"

Tim could turn into a javelin that would recall back to Zil, if Zil wanted something like that? Or maybe a cool spinning bladed disc? Then he could boomerang through enemies. That'd be neat!

Esen prepared her tendrils to strike once the fish attacked, but Siren was keeping them back for now...

Ken sent out a command, and the car crabs began smashing into each other like it was fucking bumper cars.

Theraea tried to grab ahold of Siren with telekinesis, but Siren's kicks were too strong. She moved away from the air bubble.

Jim, with a very edgy expression, ALSO applied his make-up. He was READY. He raised his blade into a pose, preparing to fight when Siren sent in the Fish Legions...

At the same time, the Demon stood up.

"Siren!" she shouted. "Keep fighting! You're not like this! I've met you, I fought beside you, and there's a hero in there!"

Regardless, she raised her blade, ready to help defend Maria if it came to it.

Finn moves to a position that would allow her to protect Coyote and Hackerman both!

Okay, somehow, the group needed to get Siren in here. If they could just do that, they could actually fight her. Taunts seemed to work in the past... maybe that would be a good idea?

Theraea made her way over to Stormy's body and... gave it a kick. "Hey, Siren! You're too weak to, um... even stop us from... um, from killing your friends! We'll do the same to your god, too! How are you going to, um, stop us out there? ...Also, fish suck!"

Theraea felt really bad about being mean, but if it made Siren charge her... it'd be worth it. She prepared to blink out of the way in that event - with the amount of air around, Siren probably wouldn't be able to fly right back into the water.

Esen notices the taunting and realizes what's going on.

"Come on, fish-girl, that all ya got!? You gonna let yourself give up to that tentacly bastard huh? Will ya?"

She focuses on Siren and waits for her to approach. If she gets even an inch into the bubble, the trap will be sprung. Esen is ready to grab her, reel her in like a catch on a line, and slam her into the ground so she can't do anything.

Siren sneers, tightens her grip on her spear, and...

Clutches her head and ignores the taunting. She doesn't seem to hear it at all. She was a hero, after all. Heroes didn't worry about what people say, or how many of their followers are dying, or whether any of those costumed doofuses - the blue one - seem familiar, or...

"StopstopstopstopSTOP!"

A psionic scream rips through the air.  Siren ain't doing shit, but the fishmen seem to hear her shriek, and a berserker rage flows through the crowd.

The berserker raging Fishmen, Lamprey Hands, and Artillery Shrimp rushed into battle, paying no attention to tactics or organization. They simply swarmed from all directions. The Car Crabs, under Ken's direction, were still locked in bumper car combat with each other and couldn't join the fray.

Interestingly, even the razorfish and barnacles swarmed the air bubble. They, unlike a few of the other aquatic creatures, could not float and simply flopped onto the ground.

As a result of this attack, the heroes started fending them off in a feverish melee. Finn protected Ken, slashing and hacking with her claymore (which occasionally sparked with electricity) while the Demon, Nocturne, and La Chat fended people off from attacking Coyote. At this point, the Demon was able to display her combat effectiveness by mixing expert swordplay with a constant barrage of electricity, fire, and ice shards. She also mixed shields into her spellplay, often deflecting attacks as she made her own attacks.

Sadly, neither Siren nor Theraea's taunts and traps worked, as Siren was too busy swimming around with her head in her hands screaming.

"Keep fighting!" shouted the Demon between swings of her sword. "We're here for you! Just keep fighti-AGH!"

A harpoon impacted itself in the Demon's left shoulder, but she kept on fighting with her good arm.

Meanwhile, a massive tremor rocked the temple as the chasm tentacles began to grow outwards. Something seemed mad that their pet was shaking off their leash...

The tentacles would be able to reach the air bubble now.

Esen becomes impatient.

"If she won't come to us, I'll bring her to me!"

With a leap forward, propelled by her hookshot, Esen goes to snatch Siren with another shot and pull her into the bubble, where she can try and do something about getting the enchanted motorcycle helmet onto Siren's head.

"Teeeeentacles!"

Sam danced about with a fish man, dodging and redirecting the berserking, mindless creature into being a human shield.

"Jim! See if yer blade can cut those things! I'll shoot one!"

He shot his dance partner in the back of the head before aiming at a tentacle tip, firing to see what happens.

A spinning disc is perfect! Especially since Zil's so damned tired and it can cut shit at a distance before she caught it again. Nice.
Once Tim shifts, Zil will take a deep breath, thank him, and TOSS him at the closest tentacle! GOOD JOB, BUDDY!

Okay, okay, okay, let's see. Siren: breaking free? Tentacles: much more there than Theraea would have liked. Portal: still frustratingly open.

"I need to get closer!" Theraea called out. "I can't even try to shut that thing from here!"

For now, she'd try a method that was... more violent than she'd perhaps like, but taking out some tentacles from a giant eldritch thing wasn't really that bad. She'd fly up and try to goad a tentacle into lashing at her, then open up her Dwelling Unit's portal, try to catch the tentacle inside, and force the portal shut again. Safety features be damned. She hit herself with a burst of Quickened Time to make the reactions easier for this dumb a stunt.

To hell with it, then! Defense isn't Finn's gonna jump into action, rushing into a combo attack with Essen! If the big buff lady lands the attack, she'll help pull her in and start the attack! If she fails, she'll retreat back to a defensive position from which to help keep Coyote safe.

Siren will... continue to freak out! Her movements are growing more erratic and the psionic shriek grows ever louder.

As the Voice of the Deep tries to reassert control, her mind falls into a berserker rage. She'll defend herself, but she's not attacking just now - except to randomly lash out at anyone who gets close in a frenzy. If she gets pulled into a hookshot though, she'll try to use the momentum of being reeled in to drive the spear home.

Esen threw out her hookshot, grasping the thrashing Siren and pulling her in as Finn rushed to reinforce her. The Herald of the Deep was reeled in, but she prepared her spear as she was pulled, and she delivered a fearsome stab upon her arrival that impaled both Finn (who was standing behind Esen helping her pull) and Esen herself. The strike went through their armor, powered by momentum and Siren's own brute strength.

With the last of her failing strength, though, Esen did manage to put the helmet on Siren's head. Her mind was immediately filled with an incredible burning agony that went far beyond what Candy had experienced.

It felt like it was scalding her very soul, trying to wrench her free from the grasp of Thiotza’ma.

Meanwhile, Zil threw her disc at the tentacles, partially severing two. Theraea raised her home module and opened the portal, absorbing the strike of one of the giant tentacles before closing it off. Her home now had a giant tentacle in it and the place was a mess.

All in a day's work for a Weaver!

Sam shot the tentacle tip, which seemed to cause it pain as it thrashed about. Jim, meanwhile, closed towards one and began slicing. His slices weren't too effective, but they partially severed a few of the smaller tentacles.

Then the helmet went on Siren, causing the creature to let out a giant roar of rage. Bringing down all its tentacles at once (some of which were holding giant chunks of the temple), they caused massive devastation. Zil was struck aside with severe injuries while debris sent Candy sprawling down. Sam and Jim, using Dudetime, managed to dodge most of the debris while the Demon protected Maria with two shields. Fishmen and Artillery shrimp went down left and right to the ruthless, uncaring blows while Nocturne and La Chat were both knocked bleeding to the ground. Theraea herself was nearly knocked out of the air by one strike before being grazed by another, flopping down with a wounded wing.

"YOU. WILL NOT. HAVE HER." a voice yelled from the rift, communicating in both the Tongue of the Deep and the languages that the group understood all at once. "SHE IS MINE."

The Deep got itself flipped off by a rodeo clown.

"THIS AIN'T THE FIRST BAD RELATIONSHIP I'VE HELPED A GAL OUT OF!"

Sam looked to the other party members, noticed the Nocturne and La Chat on the ground, and ran over to help one of them up.

"Anyone got somethin' strong that we can dunk into that rift?"

Welp. This was how she died, then. Honestly? There are worst things than going out alongside a cute girl while defying a dark god.

Speaking of, she has a little strength left.

"ARE YE A GOD OR A CLINGY EX!?" She wheezes out over the blood. "SWEAR TAE A LESS SPINELESS GOD, IF YE DON'T KILL ME SOON, I'LL KICK YER ASS FER HOW PATHETIC YE SOUND!"

With that, Finn's gonna try and rip herself off the spear. Bleeding be damned, she's going to go out on her own two feet.

"IF SIREN AIN'T LOYAL TAE YE FER HER OWN REASONS, YE DINNAE DESERVE ANY LOYALTY TAE BEGIN WITH!!!! YE NEVER HAD HER, BASTERT - YER JUST PULLIN PUPPET STRINGS!"

Oh, ow. This is the sorta pain she might be able to handle if she were in a better state. In her human form and exhausted though, these crushing debris wounds are a problem. Wheezing, she sputters out,
"Candy? Nimue? Maria? Everyone- you all okay?"

She needs to get up, and will try to do so, helping Candy up as well, if she can! If Finn and Esen can manage to get off this spear, she'll use the last of her energy to try to seal the their wounds up, too, regardless of protests. Starting with Finn, if only because she's in front.

People protesting medical attention ain't nothing new to her, and she knows she don't got much left 'til sleepy time. If she can, she might even help get that damn spear out, if only to heal it immediately after.

If Tim really wants to go for another trip, she'll toss him at the tentacles again, too, pushin' it all to them limits. These people can be more useful than her while far less exhausted!

Ow, fuck. Not that Theraea would ever swear out loud, but in her internal monologue it certainly felt called for. Both because that hurt a lot, and because being grounded would make this whole thing harder to pull off.

"Maria, can- can you get this air bubble toward the rift? We need to deal with this thing before it's too late!"

For the moment, Theraea focused on dodging - she was pretty fucking good at that. Hard to smash someone who never stopped teleporting around. Once the rift was within reach, well... Things were going to get dicey in a possibly-lethal way. But hey, better to go down defending the multiverse against Eldritch Things than to go down some other way, right?

Theraea could tell herself that, but she really wanted to live through this encounter. Yikes.

Sam looked over to Theraea.

"If yer chuckin' a gadget in there, I could make it swimmin'! As long as Fishgal ain't zippin' around I can probably dodge everything else!"

He could PROBABLY make that swim, right?