Inside

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

"Destiny? What destiny?"

"Why, your destiny of course." A voice chimes in.

It's owner, a slender athletic woman is standing next to the receptionist booth. Though she doesn't actually appear to be the receptionist as she's dressed in what's essentially a bikini and a skirt. But the card hanging around her neck does seems to prove that she's at least part of the staff.

She laughs disarmingly and offers her hand to Hiep to shake as she approaches the two. What little curves she have swaying as she walks with a clear purpose to her gait. "Salesthra Graan at your service. So what can I do for you?" Her attention only seems to be at Hiep. Not giving Raheeda as much as a glance even as she greets the woman.

"Oh hi! So it was you that sent the letter."
Salesthra seems to be waiting for Hiep's reply however.

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

Women in bikinis are normally something that distracts Hiep easily, but she's on her guard now. She shakes Saleshthra's hand instead.

"I wanted to know more about this temple. Some of my associates in the Nexus' spirit courts were curious. Concerned, even. But I'm sure they have no reason to worry."

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

Women in bikinis are normally something that distracts Hiep easily, but she's on her guard now. She shakes Saleshthra's hand instead.

"I wanted to know more about this temple. Some of my associates in the Nexus' spirit courts were curious. Concerned, even. But I'm sure they have no reason to worry."

[Destiny Temple]

"'Temple'?" Salesthra smiles amusedly as she gives Hiep a firm handshake. "Only in the sense that that we treat our members bodies in the same manner but I must disappoint you if you came here looking for more old-fashioned religion."

"I just came here for that evaluation-" Raheeda remarks but Salesthra talks over her.
"I could still give you a tour if you'd like though." Her eyes seems to scan Hiep for a moment. "Perhaps I could even convince you to purchase our services?"

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

Bodies? Those people do look like they're exercising, so maybe that's what she means. But that's a weird way to refer to... stretching.

"I'd love a tour, but Raheeda here looks like she's been waiting a while. I don't want to butt in."

Raheeda is a bit of an enigma here. She seems clueless but has a connection to this place. Getting on her good side might prove useful.

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

Raheeda smiles and waves at Salesthra as Hiep points her out.
The woman barely gives her a glance however.
"...the evaluation is a lengthy process. One I have to be there personally for. We can deal with after I give you a tour which wouldn't take long at all. What about that?"

Before Hiep can answer Raheeda has a question however.

"Ohh! Can I come too? I love tours and I don't want to sit here waiting."

Salesthra's eyes twitch ever so slightly. "That's not needed. You're not going to come here again, are you?"

[bc56]

Widening Gyre
Kothar takes the opportunity of the snakes trying to bite him to strike at their heads with his flaming axe. Hopefully this will get rid of some of them. Sure he has to spit up some lightning as a result, but he'll live.
Meanwhile, Achuak fires another arrow at the new giant snake. He's not expecting much, a big monster like that probably doesn't care about being shot

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

Hiep gives Saleshtra a disarming grin. She's not sure why she wants Raheeda to tag along, but Saleshtra's insistence on dismissing her makes it look like a good idea. Anything to undermine her control of the situation.

"Come now. She's obviously been waiting a while. Let her tag along so she doesn't die of boredom. There's no difference between doing a tour for one and two people."

[Rebonack]

[The Widening Gyre]

Raheeda's offensive against the snake amalgam cuts it down pretty effectively. The monster is already blinded and largely unable to defend itself against her attacks effectively. Now it's just a pile of chopped up, melted snakes. It's good that Raheeda has decided to try out sharp things on the ends of sticks other than spears. Variety is the spice of life, or so they say.

Koshal is battling it out with the snakes coming down the chain! The monsters are more spirit than flesh, though his divinely powered weapon seems to hew into them all the same. There are several of the terrible creatures, though, and they're looking to wrap around him and begin biting him. Of course, Koshal has his shield to defend himself but fighting on the chain is definitely tricky.

Between the efforts of our heroes, the monsters save for the giant snake have largely been eliminated.

And Harley is running toward the monster! Possibly yelling! He may be surprised to find ANOTHER Harley's suddenly appear in front of himself and ALSO go running toward the snake monster! This is no doubt Khannie's doing, who continues to play a supportive role in the ongoing battle. It turns out the mirror image was a good idea, because the giant snake just lifted its tail and lashed out with it, obliterating the illusion rather than Harley. The monster is buffeted by the exploding shadow illusion, but it's still ready to cause trouble.

Then a lizard lad shoots the big snake.

It doesn't seem to like this very much, oddly, and turns its head to face Achuak. The snake opens its mouth, wind and lightning steadily building with increasing violence and fury. Then, just as it readies itself to blast forth a raging storm at Achuak suddenly Asami's fire tornado rips into it! The monster is scalded by the heat and buffeted by the wind, its deadly attack going wide and whizzing off over the horizon at the speed of lightning. Somewhere off in the distance comes a bright flash of light, followed by a rumble of thunder.

Probably for the best that missed.

Our heroes should note the snake is roughly the size of an anaconda (which is big) as opposed to the size of a train (which is absurdly big). So this is a large creature, but not an apocalyptic huge one.

[[brackets lover]]

[The Widening Gyre]

"Huh," says Asami, staring down the storm snake cautiously as it seems to survive a flurry of attacks.
Though the rumble of thunder distracts her, slowing down the time she takes to pull off her next attack to the point where she could be struck before it happens and prevented from succeeding. If nothing stops her, however, she runs to the tail end of the storm snake and thwacks her staff against it, attempting to twirl the body of the snake around it like spaghetti.

[quillpleasant]

The Widening Gyre

Harley is very glad for Raheeda's assistance. Getting bitten up by snakes would have sucked, poison or no. He reflects on how lucky he is that she has his back- and how, just maybe, he should be a little less reckless. After all, it's not very heroic to inadvertently force your friend to be your bodyguard.

As his illusory double is whacked by the snake he pauses, looking for an opening. Crouching low, he circles around to the side, watching as Asami's magic sends it reeling. Magical child indeed. Pausing, he narrows his eyes, studying the snake, leading the target-

And then he throws his knife, steel flashing through the air towards the snake's head. The windy conditions aren't ideal, but Harley is a pretty talented knife thrower, and it's much safer than trying to leap right into its mouth or something crazy like that.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Widening Gyre]

Raheeda knew that if you treated magical children with respect and took well care of them they would grant you a wish and it seemed like Harley had wished to kick the attackers collective asses since she was doing some pretty amazing stuff.
But she couldn't let herself be distracted by that, she lands on the street and- she does a double take as there's suddenly a second Harley.

An evil clone? She had seen those before!

She was considering attacking it when the creature beat her to it causing it to disappear.

Weird.

But she wasn't gonna let this opportunity slide by and in a swing slices off a good portion of the snakes tail. It wasn't the first time she had fought unpleasant portions of her own people and this whole fight really reminded her of that. Were these those metal lover yuan-ti she had heard about?

[Destiny Temple]

Raheeda had looked unsure how to reply to Salestrah's question and Hiep seems to have provided her with an welcome out. "Yeah, I won't cause any trouble. Promise."

This seems to be enough to convince their host who nods. "Very well, but I'm afraid we won't be help you with your problems."

"Huh? What problems?" Raheeda inquires as she crosses her arms over her chest, appearing rather self-conscious all of sudden. Perhaps she wasn't as ignorant as she pretend to be of whatever the two were talking about.

"We'll get into that during the evaluation." The spa owner declare nonchalantly as she then turns and gestures for them to follow. "But come, I think you will enjoy this." She claims, looking pointedly at Hiep rather than Raheeda.
Yet she smiles at the both as she opens one of the two entrance doors and they're met with a wall of hot humid aid. If Hiep has been anywhere near something tropical she has no doubt breathed in this kind of tropical air beyond the doorway they now step through.

There's no wonder Selestrah was wearing so little, this place felt like a sweltering rain forest and seemed to have been themed as such too. Like in the entrance hall there's those iconic pillars but these seem to have been overgrown with lush climbing plants which also can be seen climbing the ceiling in here.
There's a couple of people in scattered places around the room sitting on rugs, meditating.

"I know what you're thinking, 'isn't this humidity terrible for my skin'? Well, this part of our spa is made for people with skin which requires a higher humidity to stay fresh and healthy." Indeed, all the spa-goers in here appear to be non-human. "It also functions as a sauna for those that are interested in cleansing themselves."

"It smells like rain." Raheeda remarks and has at a moment's notice stuck out her tongue which produces a secondary forked tongue from a small flesh-tube in the middle of it. This secondary tongue vibrates in the air much like a snakes.
Selestrah looks at this display with barely contained distaste.
But as quickly as she whipped it out Raheeda pulls it back again. "Indoor rain, strange." Is her comment on it all.

[Morty]

[Widening Gyre]

"If any of those people get scragged, I'll be up to my ears in paperwork," Michalson grumbles to nobody in particular. That's obviously what he's worried about and not just not wanting to see anyone die in general. The big snake is getting pretty crowded, so instead of risking hitting a friendly, the detective turns his gaze skyward. How are they going to close that portal?

[Destiny Temple]

As a matter of fact, Hiep grew up in the tropics. So even as she wipes the sweat from her brow, she doesn't seem overly discomfited by the heat.

"Feels just like home. Weird to me that people would pay for that, though. Then again, rich Dynasts did come to our home for the weather, so maybe that's the same thing."

Raheeda's reactions are noted for later. She probably did well to bring her inside.

[bc56]

Widening Gyre
Holy cow. Achuak ducks down after seeing that blast. He doesn't want to attract more attention from the storm serpent right now, not if it seems to be preferentially targeting him.

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

Late in the afternoon, as the shadows of evening are starting to creep in, there's a sudden visitor at the precinct. Opening the door and looking around is a very striking figure, both familiar and strange.

She's a mycoid, with a wide mushroom cap and a translucent white dress. Her skin is pale and milky, chased through by bright red veins, and her eyes are large and bloodshot. Hard red talons protrude from her fingers, and there's a twitchy, predatory look to her.

The mycoid peers warily around the lobby. She's here to deliver something precious, and is understandably paranoid about a last minute mishap. Heading over to the desk, she peers down at the officer on duty.

"I'm looking for detective Michalson. Tell him Lia is here to discuss some things."

[Hraithre]

[Widening Gyre]

Hoshiki is about to leap and drag Harley out of harm's way, when the shadow double appears from thin air. The swordsman stops, narrowing his eyes. Who did that?

Asami seems to be taking care of the snake well enough, so the swordsman lets his eyes wonder. If his piercing gaze can't locate Khannie in the chaos, he'll turn his attention upward, to the giant chain.

He could cut it. Indeed, that is what he plans to do. But someone is climbing it at the moment. The swordsman weighs his options. If he cuts the chain below the climber, will the chain get pulled back to where it came from, and the climber with it? If he instead cuts it above them, can they survive the fall, and the destruction caused by falling length of the chain?

[Rebonack]

[Widening Gyre]

Michalson will likely note that the anchoring mechanism of the chain has been shaken mightily each time one of the lightning 'eggs' holding the struts together has been destroyed. Of course, each time that happened a new threat has been dumped on them all out of the portal as well. It looks like there's only two of the pylons left at this point. If they were destroyed the anchoring mechanism would likely break and the taunt chain would be yanked skyward.

Asami and Raheeda both attack the snake at about the same time! Raheeda carves through the end of its tail right as Asami whacks it, sending the tail chunk tumbling off through the air and smashing through the windshield of a car.

Whoops.

Weirdly, there's still snake under the steel scales that just got cut away. In fact, it was like chopping off a hollow section of pipe! Instead is flesh and bones of thunder and wind! The snake lashes out at the two stick-wielding warriors with its phantasmal tail, the attack carrying all the fury of a thunderbolt.

Harley, meanwhile, manages to get a dagger straight into the snake's eye!

Oh wow it really didn't like that.

The monster lifts its head and opens its jaws, an orb of raw storm fury gathering above the snake's jagged teeth-
-one for a beam of darkness from Khannie to go lancing through the orb, causing the whole thing to melt into a mess of liquid shadow and glorp all over the snake's face. It really doesn't seem to like that, shaking its head vigorously. Shadow is splashed everywhere and at some point Harley's knife goes flying free, too.

Given that purple unicorn over there just fired a shadow laser at the snake Hoshiki will probably be able to tell that's where the darkness magic is coming from. The power that she's dredging up feels like... not nothing. Not some empty void. More like raw potentiality. Primordial darkness from before the dawn of creation. It's possible it might be strangely familiar to him-

Stairs of light, beginning from nothing, ending in nothing. Infinite blackness all around.

[Morty]

[Intersection Precinct]

Lia will be directed to Michalson's office swiftly enough; he tells the officers downstairs to let her in as soon as he hears her name. She will find him behind his desk, which is more cluttered than usual. He looks... very tired.

"Lia. You're looking different."

[Widening Gyre]

Breaking the eggs would unleash more monsters and the motley assortment assembled here might get swarmed. While the snake is occupied shaking its head, Michalson loads an armor-piercing round into his gun and takes careful aim. Then he fires at the wound that was just opened in the creature's side.

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

Lia nods at the detective, eyes flicking around the room as if looking for traps. "Michalson. Yes, the part of me you knew is dead. Unfortunately, it wasn't the closure we were seeking, and so we persist. I'm here to tie up loose ends."

She fixes him with a steely gaze, claws drumming against her thigh. "I should have listened to you earlier, but there's no point in speculating what could have been, regardless of the sorrow I feel. All that matters is picking up the pieces. Like this one." She holds out a hand. Resting on her open palm is the strange orb that is Bunny.

---

The Widening Gyre

Harley allows himself a brief moment of triumph as the knife throw hits home. That was pretty cool. Of course, now the snake is still alive and he's sadly knifeless, but at least it was cool.

He could go searching for the knife, but in the dark and rain it could have been flung anywhere. So he'll have to improvise. What devious plan or tricky strategy should he try next? Perhaps... reaching into his jacket and pulling out his secret weapon?

Second knife in hand, he darts forward, tucking himself into a roll that takes him directly under the snake's thrashing head. In one smooth motion he stands and stabs up towards the snake's lower jaw, trying to impale it from beneath.

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

As a matter of fact, Hiep grew up in the tropics. So even as she wipes the sweat from her brow, she doesn't seem overly discomfited by the heat.

"Feels just like home. Weird to me that people would pay for that, though. Then again, rich Dynasts did come to our home for the weather, so maybe that's the same thing."

Raheeda's reactions are noted for later. She probably did well to bring her inside.

[Destiny Temple]

Raheeda might not even be capable of sweating considering her scales.

Salestrah is not sweating either, nor does she seem especially surprised by Hiep and Raheeda's ignorance on the matter.
"It's like a gym, you're not just paying to use one kind of equipment, you're paying to use the whole facility and this is just where people like to relax. Since gyms have saunas too don't they?"

"Rain-rooms? Why not just use a lake?" Raheeda inquires.

"We do have a pool too if that's more your thing." Salestrah explains as they continue walking through the room. "But it seems neither of you have been in a spa before, is that correct?"

"Haven't been in a rain room but I do know what a pool is. Does that mean I've been in a spa?" Raheeda inquires.
Salestrah just stares at her for a moment. "Eh- no, but a spa is much like a gym in that it helps you enhance both your health and your looks." She stops right as they reach the door leading to the next room and turns to them. "Does that sound interesting at all to you? Since the first visit is free, with some limitations, and you don't need to tie yourself up to anything."

The Widening Gyre

Oh hey, this creature was like one of those dolls where there's even tinier dolls inside them.
Much ruder and a lot less cute though.

Raheeda is thrown off the ground by the blast yet somehow manages to land on her feet, which is honestly more of a cat than a snake thing. Regardless, she seems to be in pretty spectacular condition for someone that just got hit by a thunderbolt.

She doesn't bother returning the attack however, fully confident that the Magic Child would deal with it. Instead she sets off towards that anchor that the Magic Child had been attempting to deal with. Was it fully destroyed or is there anything left for her to deal with? Since that seemed to be the whole crux of the attack. So she's really looking for those pylons.

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

"No, I get it. I've never heard the word 'spa' before but I've been to beauty salons." Not really as a customer, though. Not her thing. But the Dragon-Blooded had those back home. And, of course, the facilities available in Yu-Shan dwarfed this place. "Are you offering to let us use your services? I wouldn't say no." It could let her take a closer look at what really goes on in here.

[[brackets lover]]

[The Widening Gyre]

The force of the strike proves to be too much for Asami to shrug off as she's caught off guard by it, the tail hitting her square in the face and instantly inflicting trauma. Additionally, she hurls to the ground and hits the back of her head on the pavement hard. Instinctively, she pressed her hands over the bridge of her nose, unfortunately making it hard to see how badly she actually got hurt. Those with a discerning eye may be able to notice a sliver of blood on one of her cheeks.

She rights herself, tears immediately flowing down her cheeks. "Waaaah! Waaaah!" she wails miserably.

[Morty]

[Intersection Precinct]

Lia nods at the detective, eyes flicking around the room as if looking for traps. "Michalson. Yes, the part of me you knew is dead. Unfortunately, it wasn't the closure we were seeking, and so we persist. I'm here to tie up loose ends."

She fixes him with a steely gaze, claws drumming against her thigh. "I should have listened to you earlier, but there's no point in speculating what could have been, regardless of the sorrow I feel. All that matters is picking up the pieces. Like this one." She holds out a hand. Resting on her open palm is the strange orb that is Bunny.

No traps in this room... not intentional ones, at least. Some of the clutter might be harmful by accident.

"Should have beens and could have beens are old friends of mine, aye. I can't quite leave them behind but I hope you can." He takes the marble. "At least she's safe. But I don't have another body for her."

[Hraithre]

[Widening Gyre]

The purple unicorn is supremely distracting, yes. The swordsman finds it hard to focus on his cut when the memory intrudes his stream of consciousness.

Stairs of light, beginning from nothing, ending in nothing...

It isn't just the power the unicorn is drawing from that is familiar. This whole fight has a familiar feel to it. The swordsman finds himself in the same state of mind he was in when he fought the moth-dragon. This whole scene, it is like a bad dream. And just like in a dream, the swordsman's feet leave the ground as he runs up a spiral staircase that only exists for him. He leaves rings of blue fire on the air where he steps. In blink of an eye, he's next to the climbing lizardman paladin. "Grab my hand while you still can!", he shouts.

[bc56]

Widening Gyre
Kothar stares at the swordsman for a moment, surprised. But this is clearly a fellow warrior opposed to these serpents, and his tone brings a dire warning.
But his hands are full...
The paladin releases his grip on the chain with his legs and jumps towards the swordsman. As he does so, he throws his axe downward. The enchanted implement will survive the fall. Then he grabs hold with his now-free hand.

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

Lia grins. It's not a pleasant expression. "Oh, I will have no problem leaving it all behind. The same can't be said about the other Lias, which is why I was chosen to bring Bunny here. I'm the most emotionally distant." Most of the others would probably get terribly sentimental, which would just make things worse.

The marble is handed over, although she seems strangely reluctant to do so. Once it's done, Lia steps back, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, we thought about that. Last time we offered to grow her a mycoid body she refused, but things have changed since then and it's not like she's got a lot of options. It'd be alive but braindead, so no moral issues, and it'd at least look better than the gargoyle. I certainly don't care about her, but if you think it's for the best then I can do it." Red claws tap nervously against her arm as she awaits his response.

[Reinholdt]

[Church of Venus]

The day after the maid cafe, Reinholdt takes up the invitations of the cultists he met to come on by and check out their religious congregation. Rein's semi-nicely dressed. Though hardly in his sunday best, at least it isn't his usual street clothes. Accompanying him is Ambrosia, a totally normal scholar on dragons.

[Shadowcaller]

[Church of Venus]

As Rein hadn't told her anything too specific about approaching the cult (other than "not eating them") Ambrosia arrives her in what to her was considered "casual" wear. Meaning that she was of course fully decked out in her armor. Considering the time it had to take to put it on and off she must have a good reason for wearing it. Constant paranoia maybe? Not that there was any evidence of it being able to protect her from a gun or similar common weapons, especially to the face.

At least it looked fancy enough for people to accept her as a serious, if unusually dressed, academic. Since she did also carry her big tome with her and if that didn't scream scholar (or wizard to some) then what did? One might argue a notebook or even an electronic variant of one would be much easier to use but she stuck to the tome. Perhaps it doubled as a weight for whatever work-out routine she had that allowed her to carry it and all that armor with such ease.

[Destiny Temple]

"I'm offering a free trial, yes. Since you seem to have traveled so far and are so interested I figure it would be the right thing to do." She opens the door, inviting them into a small room which has an emergency exit, a stairway and an elevator which is what Salestrah will take them to. The tropical air is left behind as being in here feels just like being in the lobby again.

"But I thought you said you couldn't do anything for me?" Raheeda inquires just as she's about to enter the elevator, looking
"Mm... not for the evaluation no. But there's always potential for other things." Salestrah's eyes have almost been glued to Hiep this entire time but she seems to take a moment to take in Raheeda's features as she says this.
"Like what?" The scaled woman inquires, still standing just outside the lift.
"Whatever you want to be." Salestrah smiles.
"But not with passing the evaluation?"
Her smile fades and she let's out a small sigh. "No, just please, miss. We're waiting for you." She gestures inside the elevator.

"Oh, nah, I'mma gonna' take the other way." Raheeda replies as she gestures at the stairs. "So what level are ya' heading to?"
Salestrah blinks. "...the top floor."
"'kay, thanks." And Raheeda gives her a two-fingered salute before she starts jogging away, her footsteps echoing up the stairs.

[Morty]

[Intersection Precinct]

Michalson gives Lia a long look. He didn't know her very well before everything went well and truly addle-coved, but he doesn't like what he's hearing.

"I reckon if she doesn't like it, she can abandon it. But it's better than bein' an inert marble. Do it."

[Destiny Temple]

"She sticks by her principles. Admirable, in a way." Hiep doesn't trust technology much either.

But this about-face from Salestrah is odd. Before, it looked like she wanted Raheeda out of the way. Now she gets the same special treatment as Hiep does? Come to think of it, why is Hiep getting special treatment? She doesn't look any different from any other person who could walk in from the street. Is it because she's assuming the identity of a priestess? Or to they know something? Some might call this paranoia, but Hiep is resigned to it as part and parcel of working for the Bureau of Destiny.

[Rebonack]

[Widening Gyre]

It turns out that Harley is the anti-snake hero today.

In a display of great skill and bravery, he rams his dagger up through the jaw of the monster just in time for Michalson's shot to strike through, blasting its horrible snake brains right out.

If this creature even has any brains.

Regardless of what dwells inside it's skull, it topples over and thankfully not directly onto Harley because it's pretty heavy.

Asami appears to be crying, having gotten clobbered in the face pretty hard. Khannie, seeing that there aren't any active threats right this moment, breaks cover and begins running toward her. Khannie doesn't have any healing magic. That definitely isn't her thing. But she always carries first aid stuff with her in her bag just in case. That's one of the first things they teach you in Caped Heroics classes.

The Swordsman manages to pull Kothar away quickly enough that the lightning snakes all over the chain aren't able to bring their full fury upon him.

And finally!

Raheeda finds the pylons without too much trouble.

Two of the spires with a lightning egg build into them remain. The anchor is already straining with so many of its supports destroyed. There's a good chance if another is taken out the whole anchor might break free.

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

Lia nods; she was expecting him to agree to her plan. "Alright then. No time like the present."

Of course, she can't create a body out of nothing. Luckily, when she last passed through the station, she scattered some spores, which have been growing in the walls ever since. At a beckoning twitch of her claw, they come swirling out of the baseboard, forming a purple cloud in the air.

Waving her hands through the cloud, she directs the spores as they coalesce and settle on the ground. As more of them gather, they begin to grow, forming a solid clump of white matter on the ground. As more is added to it, the blob becomes a vague humanoid shape, then a more recognizable one.

It's clear, as it comes together, that this body is made with Bunny in mind. That is to say that fungal features are kept to a minimum. There's no huge mushroom cap, the skin is, while very pale, not out of the realm of normal human tones, and there's no clothing growing out of it. In a few minutes, there's what appears to be a sleeping young woman laying on the ground.

Lia peers down at it. "She'll be weak at first, so make sure she eats a lot. And there's no bones, just fungal cartilage, so she won't be as sturdy as other humans." She purses her lips. "I know Bunny wanted to be beautiful so I tried to oblige. But it's not my problem if she hates it, this is the best I can do."

---

The Widening Gyre

Harley scampers to the side, avoiding the coils of the falling snake. Yanking his dagger out of its remains, he lifts the weapon in a quick salute to Michalson before looking around, deciding where he's most needed next.

The magic kid seems to be in a great deal of distress, but Khannie is helping her, and there's not much he can offer there. On the other hand, Raheeda is instigating the pylons. That he can help with.

Sprinting over, he skids to a halt beside Raheeda. "What do you figure, should we smash it?" She's had his back during this fight, so now it's time to follow her lead.