Apotheosis of All Deserts <Dark Tower>

The apotheosis of all deserts, possessing relics from another age, before time moved on, exist here. A dusty, rusted shell of a vehicle half buried in a sand dune still reads 'C H E V--' on its grill. Up in the sky the clouds seem drawn in one direction. Follow the beam to the Dark Tower. The center of all worlds.

The woman in black fled through the desert.

And, thanks to an informant and the quick thinking of those entrusted with this vital information, the IPA follows.

The trail of footsteps left in the sandy, dusty earth seems older than it truly is. Everything here does. Everything that belongs to this place gives way to how time, how the world has moved on. As eventually as all paths lead to the very spine of the world, the mythical Dark Tower that is her goal; along the Beam she runs, clasping her dear Mother's head to her chest, bone-white hair streaming out behind her like a long and unkept banner.

Soon. Soon. Soon.

She will reach that Tower. Unarmed - but for JENOVA's remains - pale as funerary lilies, willowy of figure under a heavy black cloak, her fingers clutched at their treasure, fingernails dirty and stained.

There were Guardians, she'd heard, Guardians who protected each Beam - like this one - giving them over to Mother would make everything better, everything easier, just as it was when she'd had three Brothers to fight for her. But they weren't strong enough, they broke, so she left them behind. The bombs weren't working, but she had a better plan.

Eleven would use that Tower as Mother's new throne.

The woman in a hummer followed through the desert.

Yes, Maria is driving. You may be in the hummer with her.

Lera is in the desert, as well; she is sweating, too, with a frown on her lips. The damned sun is too hot. She thought she was done with the desert sun for awhile after the Gem campaign concluded. She wipes at her face, smearing droplets of sweat onto her hand, and then sighs. She has a hand resting on her daiklave, as she looks forward at the woman. "That's her?" she asks, frowning sharply.

Lera is, incidentally, standing in the back of the hummer, a hand grabbing onto the bar of the roll cage directly in front of her. She tilts her head just a little.

Who is driving? Maria is driving. Simon is in the shotgun-seat of the Hummer, once again geared for battle--he's not as openly armed as he was during the incident with Cloud, but there's an ominous-looking armored briefcase wedged beneath the dash.

"The Apothesis of All Deserts indeed," Parker mutters. "The only thing I see out there is sand, and that... that beam--" Lera speaks up. Simon pulls a pair of binoculars out of his pocket, and looks at the pale, dark-cloaked woman. "That must be her," Parker says. He turns to Maria.

"Floor it."

Shane's sitting on the back of the hummer next to Lera. Maria's proven to be a better driver than him. Plus after the stunt with the whole crashing a jeep on Sephiroth, she really is better the better choice. He's leaning back, eyes half closed as he meditates and a rifle tip resting against his shoulder. He heard rumors of this particular plane but knows nothing of it.

When Lera points out Eleven, Shane opens his eyes and stands. A hand raises to his brow. Even with the reflective sunglasses, it's still too bright to see without some shade. All he sees is a figure but who else would be out in this place? "What Mr. Parker said. Better hang on Miss Cathak. It's gonna be a wild ride."

He hunkers back down, pausing to take a long drink of water from the canteen at his side before reaching out with both arms to hold onto the roll cage. He doesn't want to get thrown out.

The world has moved on. This place - this whole universe - has fallen away. A desert indeed. Are there even any birds, here? Anything, to herald the morning light?

Nono is not in the hummer. She is, perhaps, above - flying along the route Eleven walks, weaving in and out from below and above the clouds, to keep track of her prey.

"The sky is lonely," Nono murmurs, swinging low to lock eyes on the hummer below, making sure she doesn't lose track of it. "How sad..."

The Dark Tower... Rufus knows little about it, but simply hearing the name makes him feel a little uneasy, and seeing the clouds in the sky all drifting in the same direction once they hit the same point, it makes the Lieutenant Colonel think that if they don't stop Eleven here, in this desert, all they've been doing thus far will have been for naught. He glances over at Maria, then turns in his seat, to glance at the others. It is nice that Hummers are so big; he gets to be seated in the middle. Possibly next to Naruto. That wouldn't be trying at *all*.

"She's in sight? Good." Rufus' voice is clipped, precise, as he taps his arm with one finger. Others have already stated the obvious, so Rufus sees no reason to tell Maria *again* to pick up the pace to better catch up to Eleven. He can't quite explain his low-humming anxiety, but somehow, in some way, this world... it reminds him of his own. Of what it might become if the decay continues unchecked.

It doesn't feel good.

"Man, this place makes the Sand Country look like a kid's sandbox..." Kneeling on the Hummer's roof (and not budging an inch no matter what bumps they hit), Naruto Uzumaki looks around at their surroundings with an expression that anyone who knows him well would find unusually serious. He does pause to glance up at Nono and wave -- 'Man, that's cool,' he thinks. 'Wish I could fly like that!' -- but the cheer is fleeting. He's not sensitive to spirits or metaphysics or anything like that, but even he can tell that this is an ominous place.

Naruto joined the IPA in the middle of this crisis, and it took him a while to get used to the radio and bulletin systems, so he's missed a lot of the details. All that stuff about JENOVA, S-cells, clones, Reunion... Naruto doesn't really understand any of it. But what he does understand is this: Number XI has been forcing friends to fight each other, pitting ally against ally, putting innocent lives in danger... and she intends to spread her evil across all the universes.

And that's all he needs to know. "I'm ready for her whenever you guys are," Naruto says into his radio.

Sharp eyes kept track of the terrain below, occasionally frowning at the displays as they charted out information about their flight. It was small, but the regular shifts in the wind across their bearring was consistent, always however appearing to flow in the same direction. He knew very little about the plane itself based on the limited time he had, but perhaps another time for reflection. Of the pair of dark-haired men, one was the leader of the Turks, the other having hailed from Gongaga himself. He was allowed due to...personal interests in seeing this taken care of. The bespectacled Turk said little, following the Clone they had tracked all the way out in the desert. Occasionally he fingered the hilt of a Katana he kept strapped next to him.

Tseng glanced behind him at the other passenger(s), his expression unreadible, settling finally on Angeal. "Any regrets?" He said shortly around the headset he wore, he expected an equally concise reply from the ex-SOLDIER. The man hadn't gone scurrying back to Banora. So he could only assume...saying with a few words 'he told you so'. Proof was about, though he'd had little contact with him thereafter, it was more than worth the time the trip there had cost.

The armed helicopter was saddled with guns and explosives, and Tseng had made sure to...prepare himself for a more personal touch. This had gone on too long-- the sins of another ShinRa needed to be made accountable for.

Angeal joined Maria soon after the information was passed - it helped that he was present when the call was made.

He'll be furious with Sephiroth later or perhaps not. Someone had to take the risk.

But despite who gathered everyone, Angeal ended up with Tseng in the helicopter. Call it old-fashioned or habit, but he's more comfortable with the idea of having the ability to get in and out very quickly. ...Even if it is quite a ways to the ground.

The SOLDIER can see no line, no beam, but he can feel it in his bones and blood; the hum of mako running through his enhanced body picking up on the Beam's presence and resonating in a way that is not unpleasant. It's a distraction, though and he cannot afford distractions at this time. As he sits in the rear of the helicopter, waiting for them to cross the desert, the man has the Buster Sword - his, not Zack's version or the purloined gravemarker - before him. His forehead is pressed to the place where hilt and guard meet as he finds his focus.

A smaller but no less worthy addition to the man's uniform is a black ribbon, tied around the bicep of his left arm. He'd found it with Sephiroth when they first took him down and had held on to it and the Masamune so neither would be lost in the confusion. He borrowed it, simply because it may prove useful.

Sephiroth shouldn't mind. Though the man could be notoriously picky about his personal possessions. Nevermind, not something to think about now.

Angeal looks up as radio alerts come in at the sighting of Eleven. He rises and makes his way to section reserved for the cockpit. Though he doesn't enter, he looks through the door and the front glass to the place where Eleven was a small figure crossing the source of the resonating hum.

Accurate enough, Tseng. The reply is short, "None." Not anymore. Any animosity that he may still harbor for Tseng has been set aside in light of the mission at hand.

It is nothing short of miraculous that the wisp of a woman isn't delirious from the heat by now. Perhaps she is, but she can't tell, her mind is always swimming, cruelly shrewd but utterly mad nevertheless. Hers is a multi-faceted wickedness for which 'insanity' is no excuse. Her every desire boils down to an unholy trinity:

Join with Mother.

Bring Mother to every corner of this Multiverse.

Surpass Sephiroth, or rather, the madman who would have become a demigod.

Eleven is lost in these thoughts in a sort of grinning ecstasy; only the rumble of Humvees growing closer pull her reluctantly from thoughts of triumph. She's still smiling, showing teeth, long hair falling across her face as she turns to look.

It should not be possible for her eyes to widen further but they do; she clutches the decapitated head of the alien Calamity from the Skies, fingers tangling in its limp hair, screaming laughter.

"You've come! You've come after all! How did you -find- me?" Pleasant surprise becomes a rictus of such fury, she screams so hard she bows forward, JENOVA's head tucked under her chin. "YOU USED MY BROTHERS! YOU USED THEM BUT THEY'RE MINE!" But they're coming, they're coming. "No!" she screeches petulantly, a bloodied foot stomping the ground. "You can't have Mother!"

"Must be." Maria tsks as she hears the faint sounds of crazy XI ranting on the wind. A brief, almost lazy, smile is turned towards Lera, then to Simon. "Oh, but of course."

Floor it she does, pedal jammed right down to the floor of the vehicle. The engine roars loudly, wheels spinning and kicking up vast amounts of dust in their wake as the hummer surges forward.

"Hold on."

It seems to soar through the air, the needle to the speedometer slamming to the right and remaining with little indication of dropping back. Those astutely watching XI as she runs across the sand will find a rapidly improving view of her. It improves to the point where XI is hopefully being splattered across the windshield.

Should Maria succeed in running her over, she will quickly spin the car around and bring it to an abrupt, but almost supernaturally neat stop. The vehicle doesn't roll over or tip.

The helicopter and Nono might be the first to note the presence of something ... else ... in the sky with them, on wings so massive that the sky itself seems to darken as it passes. Here, the Guardians of the Beams aren't mythological beasts meant to scare children. Here they're very real, and this one flies with tattered wings and battered body, ravaged seemingly by time and countless battles, its once clean brown and gold frame dingy and ill-kept. No bird this size should be able to stay in the sky.

It dips its wings and sails beneath the helicopter with a sharp, ringing cry, its one good eye - the other an empty socket - focused briefly on this thing in its sky and then on the ground. The Humvee and its occupants will also fall beneath the shadow of those great failing wings before a thunder of heavy beats and subsequent wind send it rapidly higher with another scream. For all its worn appearance, the ancient beast's voice is still strong. Some remnant of old magnificence still remains, but it ... like the world.. has moved on. The threat of XI and her endeavors seem so puny against the ravages of time.

These aren't prey. The great Eagle continues along its path, vanishing between clouds high above, the distant echo of its call reverberating across the sand and along the beam itself.

Simon does, indeed, hang on tightly--he buckled his seatbelt at the start of this trip, and has no intention of unbucklind now. As the Hummer leaps into the air, his breath catches in his throat for a split-second, before he calms himself. The shock of the impact is jarring, but not painful, and Parker quickly settles into a more businesslike frame of mind. He opens the briefcase, removes a pair of Desert Eagles, and slides them into the holsters at his sides.

And then a shadow falls across the car. "What the hell?" Simon exclaims. As the Humvee comes to a stop, he cranes his neck to look up at the... the thing in the sky. He points in its direction, but makes no move to get out of the car.

"I'll do that," Lera says - looking down at Shane, giving him a smile, and then holds on tighter to the roll cage. When she feels Maria speed up, her eyes get wide; she quickly drops back down and throws the seatbelt around her waist, to not be thrown out of the car. She looks ahead at Number XI.

Her eyes narrow and she holds one hand up in front of her face. Flame crackles up along the hand, held away from the upholstery and the seats - starting a fire in here would be bad. She just means to have something ready.

She does look up, though, as she sees the wings - and stares, seeing the Eagle flying above. "What... is that?"

Nono slows, as it appears before her - a monstrous eagle, unimaginable in scope and scale. Her eyes widen. "Lonely..." she murmurs. "Lonely and ruined."

She aches to help, but...it can't be helped, can it? Not even all of her powers could restore this wasted world, or the creature that passes over it now, the only native life Nono has seen here.

This whole place is a living graveyard. "How awful," she breathes.

But she doesn't have too long to ruminate on the sheer sadness that bleeds in her heart, because below, the fighting has already started. XI has been...well, run the hell over, and Nono looks over at the Helicopter, nodding at Tseng. "I'm going!" she calls. "Be careful, OK?" and after a quick thumbs up, she reorients herself, and begins to dart lower, crossing distance rapidly downward, her scarf and hair whipping in the wind, hands clenched and ready. This will be difficult. What will happen...?

Shane smiles as he hears Eleven start ranting at all of them. Shaking his head, he quips cheerfully into the radio. "Yeh hear that? She thinks Zack, Cloud and the General belong ta her. Well..." Maria begins to speed up and over the roar of the Humvee engine, everyone can here Shane start what sounds a little bit like a prayer. "Da, I'll make this one short, but we could really use yer help today like the time yeh helped us out with Meremoth. So grant us the strength o' The Dadga and the arm o' Lugh. Let The Morrigan take not our souls but protect us from the evils o' this clone. We're all workin' hard ta keep the Multiverse from comin' under the sway of Jenova. So watch over us. Amen."

They say that words have power and this invocation has it in spades. Seems like the gods the Scion was praying too heard his prayer and is lending everyone their strength. They should feel their spirits stir, something within urging them forward, to fight, to protect, to do what needs to be done.

And that's exactly when the jeep FLIES and there's a loud -thud- plus what sounds like an unpleasant squelch when they hit the target. The Irishman winces. That could -not- have been pleasant. But his attention is taken away by the presence of a massive shadow. <<Christ above!>> When the Hum-vee comes to a complete halt, the scion is the first one out and rifle is raised to the heavens. But he does not fire.

Imagine how the eagle looked from a vantage point in the air. The acompanying Turk uttered a low curse, gripping the hilt of the blade before sliding towards the panel with the targetting systems, "Hold." A quiet command from Tseng, not wanting to start anything that'd waste ammunition, the Turk arched a brow then shook his head. "It doesn't look particularly like one of Jenova's children." Remarking to no one in particular, he ignored Angeal where he was up in the cockpit with them. Easing the throttle, he allowed the beast to glide ahead of them then up and away...marvelling in the sad message it seemed to leave behind, but also preparing for the carnage that would shortly ensue.

If he understood the skirmish below, the target had been neatly introduced to the humvee's front end. "Our business is ahead." Nodding, he added, "Calibrate the system for desert combat, I don't want you to endanger the helicopter unless unavoidable...We don't want to be stranded here." Issuing his orders to the man next to him. "When the drop is made, hang back and provide support. Understood?"

There was a brief moment of sullen silence, "Yes boss."

That clear, he took the ShinRa helicopter lower, preparing to pass control to him after sending a basic acknowledgement note to Nono. "This is only the beginning." Not glancing to Angeal. He was in no immeadiate hurry to get involved. No, the true trouble had yet to unfurl. It was also reason for why he wasn't rushing.

Naruto stares up at the enormous Eagle in sheer childlike amazement. But a sharp shake below him brings his attention back down. "Whoa, is she gonna --" He lurches atop the Hummer as it speeds up, but he still doesn't budge. "Oh, man, she is! Hah, what a way to start the fight! Alright, let's do this!"

Maria runs XI down with frightening accuracy, and just before the collision, Naruto leaps straight up, rocketing easily twenty feet above the crazed creature. Having caught the loudest part of Eleven's rant, the ninja gives her a feral grin that shows off his sharp canine teeth. "We're the ones who used them?" he calls from above, drawing a four-pronged windmill shuriken from his backpack and unfolding it. "Try again, freak!" Naruto feels strength flow into him from somewhere, so without further ado, he hurls the shuriken down at XI with all his might.

Sometimes that's all you really *do* need to know. There is, after all, nothing positive in the slightest about what 11 has done or is trying to do. She seeks only to spread suffering wherever it can be spread. But yes, with the Humvee in midair, aiming to crush Eleven under its treads, it would be a rather silly idea to get out now. The Hummer goes THUMP in response to Eleven's screeching, and Rufus considers the impossibility of being able to concentrate well enough to cast a decent spell in this kind of situation. Fortunate, then, that Maria brings it to a mervelously neat stop.

"I must say, that was marvelous driving, Ms. Tegawa," Rufus remarks, before pausing at how Simon peers out the front window at something. It does seem like it's darkening, but it seems more like that might be the clouds... No, or... But it's already starting to move away. "The matter of Eleven's ego aside, it seems whatever that is in the sky is moving away," Rufus says to the others as he watches it from where he can. "...Let's concentrate on what we came here to do. There's no point in aggravating it unnecessarily."

The door clicks open and Rufus slides out in a smooth, graceful gesture, golden whip uncoiling from his side. Shane's prayer has indeed bolstered Rufus' spirit, though he prayed to gods Rufus knows not--it was, after all, a prayer for what they are facing here and now, and that is applicable regardless of the divinities in question--and he steps swiftly to the side as Naruto swings down with his massive shuriken attack. "Number 11. The atrocities you have committed will end here, for the sake of all worlds," Rufus announces coolly, snapping his weapon with a sharp *crack*.

"Your repeated actions and aggressions, both directly and by proxy, leave us no choice but to deal with you with force. You have but one chance to surrender." That golden weapon flashes even in remaining shadow, before the bladed tip comes whorling down in a strike aimed for where Eleven clutches the head of Jenova. "Feel free to take it whenever you like."

The tired majesty of the Guardian draws Angeal's attention, for such a creature as that deserves respect - if not for its power and grace, then what it might do to the heliocpter. His eyes widen briefly.

...And then it is gone, lost in the clouds again. Angeal tears his gaze away from that spot to focus on the ground. That's where their mission lies.

And it's just in time to spy Maria plow into the Clone.

Angeal needs no encouragement for this fight, but at the words he hears Shane utter over the radio and the surge of power that follows, he glances only briefly at Tseng before turning to retreat to the troop area of the aircraft. "I'm going." It's as simple as that. The sword in his hand is clipped onto the harness across his back. The sequence to open the side door of the helicopter is engaged, causing a roar of hot desert wind to fill the compartment. Two, three stories up, maybe. He steps onto the platform designed for just such a troop deployment before pushing away from the helicopter and dropping to the ground.

He makes landfall about thirty yards away from ground zero and wastes no time in catching up. SOLDIER, they're speedy little devils, even when they don't use wings.

There is no hesitation in the use of it, for this battle. The Buster Sword is detached from his back midway as Angeal leaps airborne in the last few yards to come down on XI with an overhead swing.

Someone as light and fragile as Eleven is... won't survive a head-on collision with a Humvee traveling at top speed, not for long. Mercy would be a quick death.

Fate is not merciful, least of all to someone like Clone Number XI. She shrieks in terror as the Humvee approaches and-- yes, there's a sick, wet sound at impact -- she is thrown to the ground, pinned there immediately by Naruto's windmill shuriken. Eleven gives an almost drunken howl of despairing pain. Her wounds need no description, but broken bones have punched through her skin, she's bleeding, and her condition hideous. The lash of a whip sends her cringing in the sand with a sob. "No!"

Pawing at the ground weakly with one hand, she drags JENOVA's head close, face streaked with blood and tears. "Mother..."

Then she screams, a kind of high-pitched, grating shriek for which she couldn't possibly have the strength and lung capacity to fuel, yet she does, and from her body rises a thick, black vapor.

Bones crunch, tendons tear, and Number XI? Expires, but her body transforms as JENOVA's head is absorbed into her mangled body. It swells, the purple-pink of a bruise, rooting itself in the ground and growing, growing tall and malformed. It couldn't even be described as humanoid, save for the vaguely feminine shape of its torso, and some antlered-like protrusion that could be a head. Ropy tentacles burst out of its body, terminating in barbed ends. It pulses, screeches something harsh and utterly alien.

As a last resort, it has come to this.

Many squirming appendages lash out, intending on thrashing any that remain in reach - and it has a very long reach. From the region of its head a bright light shines, throwing a long, searing beam to cut through the air towards the helicopter.

At least Shane didn't invoke That Asshole this time. The blessing shudders uncomfortably through Simon's body, before finally deciding it's going to help--it settles in his muscles and nerves, imbuing him with its energy.

He unbuckles his seatbelt and steps out of the Humvee, boots leaving prints in the sand--Parker walks around the vehicle to the tattered form of Number Eleven, and looks about ready to give her a vicious kick, just to make sure she's really dead...

When she suddenly pulls a Tetsuo. Simon screams as one of the barbed tentacles wraps around his waist and squeezes, threatening to crush bones and pulp internal organs. It lifts the demon off the ground, and as he thrashes in the air, he reaches for his weapons, takes aim, and starts firing blindly at the monstrosity.

An update on the situation can wait until he's no longer in danger of being crushed to death.

In a way, Shane feels almost sorry for Number XI. She was probably a good woman, someone's wife or mother perhaps. Definitely someone's daughter but then some crazy bastard got his hands on her and shoved her into a tube in attempts to engineer the perfect soldier. And the result of that? This... this pitiful creature before him, screaming and crying as she clutches the head of a Space Titan. He makes a face, turning his head away as Angeal's sword crunches through.

"It's over," He mumbles. Famous last words as things suddenly go from 'hey this was pretty easy' to "Oh shit." The words just escape his lips when he hears the sound of a body undergoing a monstrous transformation. He stares wide eyed in horror as suddenly there are tentacles -everywhere-. It's like that thing he fought the night before, but bigger, uglier and MUCH MUCH Nastier.

One of the tentacles lashes out, striking him across the chest and flinging him up into the air. His body twists and turns with unnatural grace as he attempts to aim with the rifle while he's in the air. The scion opens fire just as he lands on his feet with a heavy -thud-.

The tentacle comes swooping; Lera sees that first, paying attention to what could hurt her before she pays attention to what happens. The young woman leaps high into the air, letting the tentacle go swooping underneath her feet. She sucks in a deep breath and lands in a three point stance. Her left hand is raised.

Flame twists and burns around it, fire crackling in the air. It seems to grow a little brighter; the effect of Shane's gift. She looks - and that is when she sees the thing. She stares at JENOVA for a moment. <<Mr. Hewley,>> she says into the radio, <<What is that!?>>

She stands and thrusts out her left hand. Flame explodes off it, twisting from the hand and hurtling outward, in a bolt that shoots towards JENOVA's antlered-like head.

Still in the air, gravity only now beginning to look over at him and go "hey what the crap", Naruto stares in shock and disgust as Number XI... merges with the head of JENOVA and mutates into this horrible new form. The curse seals he's seen in his world are nothing compared to this! His stare almost doesn't catch the hideous tentacle lashing up at him; as it is, he barely manages to twist out of its path, and he still receives a slash across his chest for his efforts.

The orange-clad ninja drops to the sand heavily, but regains his balance quickly. No time to waste! Naruto's hands come together in front of his chest, and he shouts out, "Shadow Clone Art!" Ten more Narutos shimmer into existence around the rooted mass of flesh -- then twenty -- then thirty of him, finally, surround it. And at an unspoken command, all of them rush in, kunais drawn, slashing at its trunk, the bases of its tentacles, whatever they can reach.

Maria is only briefly able to admire the enourmous eagle as it soars across the sky. "...a roc?" she hypothesizes, then shakes her head, "..no, not at all." If it was a real roc then it would probably be attacking the lot of them right now, JENOVA being present or not. She's also quite familiar with Shane's battle prayer by now, having been blessed with its benefits before.

Calmly, she switches the engine off and pockets the key to the hummer. "Well. I'm glad we..." Maria shifts suddenly, setting herself on guard as she watches the woman in her death throes carefully. No, it wasn't death throes at all. That head was still quite virulent, apparently. "It's not over!" she barks, lifting an arm to defend herself. It's only partially successful-she's not knocked off her feet, but she is slapped into the side of the hummer, the barb on the end tearing a wound open along the length of her forearm.

She cringes in pain and...watches. She seems rather reluctant to get anywhere in range of that thing and its tentacles.

So she doesn't. One of the hairpins from her hair is removed and thrown at the monster like a small dagger. It does help that the point is ridiculously and unusually sharp.

It's over..... but it's not. Even as he hears someone speak of the end, he can feel the dischordant presence, at odds with the Beam that sings in his blood. "No--" But too late. As the Clone perishes and explodes into this bloated monstrosity, the SOLDIER is not quite fast enough to avoid the lash of a tentacle which sweeps him off his feet and sends him sailing several yards away. Inhuman agility lets him twist midair and land on his feet, but the barbs made their mark.

On himself, he casts the burst of protective magic that is commonly known as Wall on his plane. And then he's charging forward, seeking to lash out at the tentacle that is wrapped around the poor man in hopes of severing it.

Soon enough, Lera is answered. <<Jenova.>>

Nono is about to say something impressive and awe-inspiring!

What comes out is, "What is--EYE LASERS IS CHEATING AAAGH"

Caught dead on by EYE LASERS, Nono doesn't even have time to get her Physical Reactors open and absorbing. It's the first time in a long time she's been hit by an energy attack. If she's lucky, it will be the last for far longer. She stops howling eventually, shot back up into the stratosphere by JENOVA's assault. She doesn't return right away, instead her voice echoes across the eternal plain, crying, "I told you before! Even if you're someone different now, that memory should still be there..."

The heavens dim, as a streak of red light bright enough to outshine the sun briefly shoots down from the clouds. "No matter what you do to me, I'LL BURN YOU TO ASH! BUSTER BEAM!"

The attack is white-hot, hot enough to sear a hole right through Jenova if it doesn't have the right defenses. It won't cause massive damage - it's not very well-charged. But it'll hurt! Especially with Shane's blessing affecting her powers...

Had the prayer even reached Tseng? There was no outward change in expression or attitude, but it was there beneath the surface where his emotions lay tucked away. He wouldn't allow it to sway his tactics however, and his was to wait until the true problem reared its ugly head. When referring to Jenova, this was oft a literal case. "I'll join you shortly." Tseng replied to the ex-SOLDIER, not turning to watch him go, merely adjusting for the buffeting wind. "Patience." He said softly, watching not unlike some being looking at pawns running around on the gameboard below... it would be difficult to miss the change.

Jenova was never subtle when she was pissed off.

"Boss!" Bracing himself, the other Turk had no need to warn him of the sudden screaming of alarms, the proximity alert and energy reading spiking suddenly. The rotors protested the sudden twist and dive to avoid the blistering streak of bone-white that flashed like a minature Junon canon, the air suddenly heated over a hundred times the temperature outside. "Send a hello to our old friend." He ordered, "About time!" Muttering, the man moved to register the heavy artillary, easily picking out the looming mass of tendrils that hinted vaguley to a human like form somewhere therin.

"Aim for her head." Clarifying the target-- taking out that beam would be necessary to avoid having to dodge about often, at this range it would have to be. Pulling back that far was not an option. The scream of gunfire joined the rest of the cacaphony, ripping towards her. "Take over."

Tseng would be making his own way to the ground, and Jenova.

It's thanks to Rufus being knowledgeable about the situation that he knows exactly what that head that, when the broken form of Eleven absorbs it into her, his blue eyes widen in horrified understanding of what just happened. He frankly didn't expect the clone to be this weak, for her to fall so easily--after all, Sephiroth and the others were just monstrous in their power levels. He leaps backward nimbly as those bones crunch together and reshape into this...JENOVA-form, and his golden weapon lashes in the air swiftly to ward off those tentacles that flail at him and attempt to mow him down. Rufus might have gotten cut down with Sephiroth, Cloud and Zack's triple-tech, but he won't be cut down so easily here and now.

Rufus begins casting immediately once he's warded off the tentacles. Considering the nature of this beast, a spell to protect them all from the effects of magic might in fact be a better idea than one to protect from physical attacks, despite how things appear right now. He thus begins to chant, concentrating as he takes throwing hair pins and shadow clones in stride, and a moment later, mana flows up around everyone in range, including himself, to increase their defense against magical attacks. Then Rufus turns his attention to the others, and does not quite like what he sees.

"Tch..." Tseng is still in his helicopter, but he should be all right on his own regardless, considering the kind of support he has. Thus, it'll be all right if Rufus' spell can't reach him. Parker is in significantly more trouble, and considering that he's freaking out at having a tentacle all over him... Well, Simon might be tougher than he looks, but his body *is* fleshy. Rufus sets in a run towards the man, leaping up on top of the Humvee, running across the hood, and jumping off near Simon as he's being crushed in mid-air in a slide, bladed tip of his whip lashing at the tentacle and trying to make it uncoil enough to not pulp the poor demon lawyer.

"Simon!" Rufus calls sharply, stepping forward to try to catch the poor man if the tentacle does indeed uncoil. Aim for his supple but manly arms, Simon! ...no, really!!

The tentacle wrapped around the Balseraph's waist tightens with a creak of alien muscle, and goes somewhat slack when a bold of fire slams into the side of JENOVA's head and one tentacle is simply shot right off. It lands on the ground with a heavy whump and a cloud of dust and there in the sand it squirms like a beheaded snake, frenzied... and eventually struggling to slither, writhing, back to rejoin the rest of its body. But Shane's powerful firearm blast aside, the continued hail of gunfire peppering the ground -- it's hard to aim when one is being thrashed around the air, isn't it? -- seems to give the alien sufficient reason to be rid of Simon.

JENOVA would intend to squeeze until the Balseraph is snapped in half, but this is not to be; Angeal's Buster sword makes quick work of the tentacle that had seized Simon, who will slide free of its grip and fall... and so too does that tentacle. He'll be spared the difficulty of dealing with a thrashing rope of tentacle due to the fact that Nono's Buster Beam plows through it, disintegrating the lost tentacle to oily ash.

Buster Machine Number Seven is the target of a return volley, as a white, black-edged beam erupts straight up from a sphere that appears above that antlered head, coursing up into the stratosphere. If Nono is on her way down, she may have to press on through this column of searing light. This leaves JENOVA open for the attacks that follow, as ninjas start multiplying. That small army of Narutos descend upon JENOVA. It shrieks again, a -variety- of sharp weapons - and objects that shouldn't be weapons - piercing its purplish skin, and energy flashes brilliant and washes outward like a wave of concussive force.

Watch out, Rufus; that wave of crushing force is hurtling towards you, as well.

Magic pulses around him and Shane nods firmly. He tries to stand but suddenly, the crushing force of gravity is upon him. He cannot and will not be knocked down! But all that energy, all that force has to go somewhere. There's a cracking sound as several ribs fracture and suddenly Shane coughs. He spits a wad of blood onto the desert floor and snarls. "That all yeh got! That all yeh can do!"

He roars his defiance as he pulls back the bolt of his rifle and goes tearing in straight for Jenova's main body. His birthright drops into his other hand and he charges. Stamping his foot once, the force sends him flying skyward as he flips the grip of the spear. He plunges downward, both spear point and bayonet attempting to crash into the massive Alien.

When/if point points meet flesh, he pulls the trigger of the rifle, sending a .303 rifle round straight into XI at closer than point blank range.

<<I'll have to ask the details later,>> Lera replies calmly to Angeal. She sets her eyes on Jenova, as she sees the disturbance; the shuddering purple energy that explodes out towards them. She sucks a breath in and leaps, one hand going to the sheathed reaver daiklave at her side. The long, single-edged sword is drawn out in a flourish.

"It will take more than that, I do believe!" she shouts. She comes crashing down - descending right towards JENOVA, sword swung out to the side. Her eyes narrow and she takes measure of where she will come down. The young woman slashes hard as she lands. Her feet catch the sand, boots digging through it, and she turns.

"Ha!"

She makes another slash; the two-handed blow comes up in a diagonal strike, trying to cut upward with a sudden and sharp motion. She looks up as she sees Shane flying in - and winces, pulling backward. If he landed on top of her, it would hurt. Shane's a big guy!

Simon continues to thrash and flail even as the hammers of both his weapons start to click--the demon starts pounding on the tentacle with his fists, determined to cause JENOVA some pain in return. And then Angeal renders the point moot with his sword, and Parker is falling. He could survive the impact, of course, but as it stands he has a convenient cushion.

In the form of Rufus. Simon coughs violently as the Lieutenant Colonel catches him, and then manages to catch his breath. "Thanks."

That's all he can get out before the gravity wave strikes the both of them, flinging Simon to the ground. The impact is every bit as crushing as that tentacle, and bones and muscles creak in protest.

Simon Parker sees red. He grits his teeth, eyes slitting against the pain, and rises. Both guns are tossed aside, and he reaches into his sleeve, withdrawing a long sword trailed by a red ribbon.

Those who've been paying attention would note that this may well be Sword... sporting a few new features. The newly-renamed Bloody-Handed Judge seems to come to life as Simon grabs the end of the ribbon, twirling the weapon over his head like a lasso. In the middle of the arc, the enchanted sword suddenly moves of its own volition, the ribbon somehow extending to remain in Simon's grip as it flies.

The goal, here, is to impale Jenova on it. As such, he is aiming away from Shane. Friendly fire is bad.

JENOVA answers the Buster Beam with yet another death ray, and Nono's too busy descending fast to be ready for that blast to pierce the heavens - She squawks again, shot far higher, her screams reaching down to the blasted world below.

It hurts. How long has it been, since something hit her this hard, this fast? She can already feel systems needing to shut down to keep up with demand.

No choice, then. She charges her energy, and then she's coming.

She shoots through the cloud cover, clouds tearing themselves apart in the shockwave of her wake, and she shoots down, faster and faster, energy crackling around her body as she shoots toward Jenova at greater-than-terminal speeds! She doesn't go fast enough that it will cause an explosion when she hits, but...

...but golly, it sure will hurt.

A wave of energy flashes out from the beast that was once Number XI. The dozens of Naruto clones are thrown backward, vanishing in midair -- and the real Naruto screams in pain as he skids backward through the rough sand. Like an attack of pure chakra -- but if this thing gets much weirder, Naruto won't have any reference point for what it tries to do to them.

"Damn it!" Naruto snarls, getting back on his feet. "See how you like this! Shadow Clone Art!" Twenty more clones appear and rush JENOVA again -- but in truth, they're only a distraction. Naruto hangs back with one clone, gathering chakra in his palm and letting the clone shape it with two hands. A swirling blue vortex of wind and energy gradually forms in his open hand. As the clone who assisted rejoins the others, Naruto takes a deep breath and focuses on JENOVA, waiting until those who beat him to the punch have backed away enough. As soon as a path is clear, he darts forward at full speed, bringing the chakra vortex up into JENOVA's trunk with a cry of, "RASENGAN!!"

Cue explosion.

Hey, Shane's ordering her again! And it's all Cid's fault! She will have to have a word with him later.

Seeing JENOVA get covered by ninja almost makes it worth it though. Almost. Just as Maria removes her second hairpin, the gravity wave strikes, her small body practically squashed to the ground thanks to the magic. She is fragile and quite aware that repeated hits like that would not do her much good.

She moves away from the others now, intent on not standing around in crowds that would be tempting to shoot at. She continues to keep her distance, not yet willing to close the distance between her and JENOVA. The second hairpin is sacrificed as she continues to stall and wait for more tentacle destruction.

The ground shuddered, and sand and bits of earth threw itself up into the air, the hot air blasting past him...albiet harmlessly. His jacket rippled around him where he had braced himself, the dust thinning to show a blasted ground before him. <<"It was better that way.">> The hiss and click of the Turk he'd left behind on the helicopter, the rush of concussive force having been lessened to a breeze. Next time, he would appreciate a little more warning, but this was in the middle of a fight, thats how it went. The helicopter held back as per earlier orders, and Tseng took a moment, a faint haze of green glittering before melting away with the vague signs of numbers. SOLDIERs were enhanced humans, steeped in mako, their abillities were surely envious...Even Tseng had his moments.

But there were other ways to garner the same effects with less committment. Brushing himself off just once, he sprinted towards the writhing mess at comparable SOLDIER speed, withdrawing from the small of his back a pair of stygian guns. The glow of materia was warning that they wouldn't fire simple bullets at most, and to prove it when he drew in close to the nearest tentacles, without stopping he blitzed a timed pull of the trigger for three successive explosions-- the bullets wreathed in flame that would take out sizable chunks of landed.

The two-pronged attack of bayonet and spear sink deep into JENOVA's back, but it's the rifle blast that sends up a spray of the alien's putrid ichor up and, in its wake, a crater-like wound where the round had entered. That blood, sticky, oily, and black-green, may cause burns on contact with skin. Be careful, Shane! The divine blood that flows through your veins may protect you from infection, but that's going to sting!

Lera proves herself precise and expert, as the first crashing descent carves a deep tear down the side of JENOVA, and the follow-up slash flays the wound open, causing assorted pods of unnamed and unspeakable alien organs to spill out onto the ground. Filaments slide back into the wound, as these organs attempt to draw themselves back into JENOVA's body. A newly reattached tentacle swings heavily around, intending on catching the Dragonblooded full in the torso to try to send her flying.

Bloody-Handed Judge sings through the air, flying true -- as it punches into the trunk of JENOVA's body it thrashes in place, twisting where it stands rooted in the arid sand, letting out an ear-splitting howl. And that driving kick from above sends its form crashing to the ground, tentacles rising and falling in a writhing pile of barbs. The explosion caused by the Rasengan plows a hole into its torso to stand beside the crater caused by rifle fire, giving off a greasy, putrid smoke. JENOVA struggles to right itself -- as another hairpin stabs into a tentacle, sending it to the ground squirming, coiling on itself to try to remove the offending weapon, and the triad of explosions fired from Tseng's paired guns send it half crashing into the ground, short three more tentacles -- it's head splits open to reveal a horrible, toothy maw and shuts again...

Fire blazes out overhead, a curtain covering the sky like the cloud cover above. Rings then descend to the ground, surrounding many of those around the alien monstrocity -- and others stand empty about the sandy battleground.

Rufus merely smiles at Simon in acknowledgement of his thanks, because the two of them get blasted by that gravity wave before he has the chance to say anything. The sheer pressure of the spell makes bones creak and organs churn, and getting slammed onto the gritty sand and forced to slide several feet before coming to a stop. "Ggh...!" But Rufus forces himself back upwards, more than all right enough despite the damage from that attack to keep going. It would be pathetic if he went down here--both as a soldier of Grangale and as the leader of these men and women.

There isn't much time. All of the others are pulling out all the stops--Shane with that Jump maneuver that Cid would scream at him for, Naruto bringing down that chakra vortez, Nono kicking the bejeezes out of it, and all of the others in turn... Rufus is more than happy for them to move and act as he murmurs his spell, mana wafting up at his feet like spirals of heat. Yet it isn't *heat* that he's calling upon... No, it's something far more deadly, and something that perhaps the EAGLE would appreciate, as master of this desert and goer of the skies. Rings of flames rise up, but those are ultimately meaningless for the Rook Slayer, because he's not going to be moving at all. Hell, it's all the better for him, because he *needs* more time to get more power, and this seems like an excellent opportunity to take advantage of that.

A moment later, and a hand snaps upwards. Magic of the highest degree triggers. High up in the atmosphere, several layers of magic circles forming upon each other. A thing like a mechanical wheel forms around them, clanking in turn--and then a great golden bird, shining so brightly it seems to glow, rips forward through the circle down through the air. It moves at supersonic speeds from high up into the atmosphere down towards the ground, yet gracefully turns horizontal as it nears the ground. The bird streaks for Jenova, sand billowing up as the winds its flight projects kicks into them, and there is a loud, piercing birdshriek as it passes by...

Those brave IPA agents who wreath flame and bullets and sword on Jenova won't be affected by the Sonic Wave as it passes them by, but Jenova will (probably) not be so lucky as golden wind energy surges forward towards and through it.

The tentacle comes flying in at Lera. Her eyes narrow, and she leaps over it. The limb swings around, barely catching some of her hair. The locks of red hair get globs of a purple-green goo in them. She recoils a little, her stomach tensing up nearly instantly. She looks at JENOVA, then.

Then she sees the fire wreath. "Oh, bloody--come on! Really? Again?! What is with that spell!?"

She focuses again. Fire gathers around her hand; she grits her teeth, then looses it - the bolt of flame exploding outward, launching off her hand, and flying towards JENOVA. She may remember this one.

Well, it's pretty clear what Shane is up to now.

With a blazing ring of fire surrounding her, one rather obnoxious effect that she's quite familiar with, Maria is already prepared with something to do. At this point, she had to be patient, which was good for stalling having to near the creature. The last time she turned the power of the Aegis on herself to bid her time. This time, however, she turns it to someone else.

Turning slightly, Maria watches Shane closely. The scarf about her neck shimmers briefly, then the Irishman's clothes follow.

The Balseraph tries not to look too much at Jenova as he tears the Bloody-Handed Judge out by the end of the... chain. Essence pulses as Simon activates the weapon's 'return to sender' feature, and the sword suddenly retracts up on its hellforged-iron chain, reaching his hand mere seconds before the Flame Wreath erupts.

Parker hears that order over the radio, and remains stock-still--save little motions of his hands, here and there. If anything, this is giving him more time to concentrate on his spell; he's inadvertently taking a cue from Rufus. There's another, larger pulse of Essence, and a beam of brilliant light flies out at JENOVA, condensed and amplified by Simon's concentration.

"Don't panic!" he cries, shortly after. "They won't burn you!"

Lera's comment goes unanswered, because it is indeed a conversation for later. And also... Angeal could have sworn there was only one scrappy blonde boy riding on top of the hummer earlier. Where in blazes did those others come from?

The SOLDIER lands clear of the bloated creature, on the wake of the gravity wave which subsequently flattens him to the ground. Screaming is not an option for SOLDIER, though clenched teeth and real pain expressed on his features. It cannot be helped though, only endured. He looks up again in time to see Tseng join the battle.

The speed does suggest enhancement... a spell? Trust a Turk to come prepared. A glance at the other combatants that are visibly present. Maria may need....

Fire descends in rings about himself and the others, causing Angeal to freeze. This... this is hauntingly familiar. Over radio and as a hoarse shout, the man warns. "Do not cross the ring until it's gone. Heal, defend yourself. But..."

...But it's not something Angeal has to worry about, for he has a cheat. SOLDIER-enhanced leaping allows him a vertical height that permits the emergence of a massive, white wing, to propel himself even higher, back toward the writhing monstrosity.

Well he proves one thing. If you can jump over the flame, you're good to go.

The Buster Sword seeks to cut at Jenova as he veers past on his way higher up. Though he cannot reach the same height as Nono, he can still climb rapidly. And that downard force is brought to bear on another overhand swing of the sword, double handed, trying to cleave Jenova.

Yes. Shane's issuing orders. He appears to have a tendency to do that when under duress. Don't hurt him too much Maria.

He gets Jenova Juice all over him and it -burns-. "Ghhhhhhhhhhh..." He can feel it eating through his clothing. He really should have opted for long sleeves. As it is, a good bit of the ichor lands on his skin with a sizzling sound, quickly eating away the skin. He shakes himself from his vantage point on top of Jenova, dislodging as much of the gunk off of him as possible.

And that's when he notices his clothing looking.. shiny? But he's seen this effect before and he flashes a grin to Maria. "Thanks!" However, he does wish he was down there with the rings of flame. Mostly because well, fire would hurt a heck of a lot less. As it is, he's looking pretty beaten.

But he has to keep going. Lifting the spear up, he forces it back down into the creator his rifle made, jabbing into it repeatedly.

Tseng skated on the ground, having to come to an abrupt halt once Jenova launched another assault-- the firey rings of red, orange and gold descending rapidly to encircle and trap those who weren't expecting it...He didn't bother to marvel at the success, moving onto the next target. One would assume logic would dictate not stepping into the ring itself, except at his speed it'd been a little difficult, brushing into its inner circle-- instead of searing into his skin and clothing, it drew itself deeper within, and left him untouched. But for a slight smolder to the dark cloth of his suit-- it was thanks solely to an accessory he had had the forsight to wear, hidden beneath his shirt and jacket.

He had nothing fancy to really roll out, no wings, no halo's of light...maybe next time he'd borrow one of the rarer materias. Ultima would have been wonderful, albiet draining to use. This was about lasting to the end however, and he was no mage. Tseng didn't bother much with chatter, working his way in closer to the center, he stepped nimbly, rifling any parts that slithered near to him with bullets, attempting to seek out where it would hurt most...to unload a full clip.

Naruto grins as everyone slams into JENOVA with everything they've got, tearing chunks out of the monster one by one. It's definitely hurting, he can tell! But its bag of tricks isn't empty yet. It spews fire into the air, and Naruto leaps backward to try to avoid it -- but to no avail. A ring of flame drops down around him. "Wh-What the hell?" He was expecting it to, y'know, hit him.

Simon and Angeal alert Naruto to the danger of the ring, and he nods. Alright, fair enough. He's trapped, and a lot of his clones are too -- but not all of them. And there's still a way all of them can attack, fire or not! All of the Narutos around JENOVA reach into their weapon pouches, pulling out handfuls of small shuriken. On its own, a single shuriken won't do that much damage. But when several dozen Narutos are each throwing seven or eight of them? That's gonna add up!

Nono's mighty kick slams Jenova into the ground, and Nono somersaults backwards, not quite touching the ground - she doesn't have feet, per se, in this mode, so she never really lands except when she's hammered into the ground!

Which at the moment, she hasn't been. She clenches one fist tight. Her energy attacks haven't worked, but her kinetic attacks have. Maybe a little combination is in order....she can't drop kill bullets on this thing, it'd blow up everyone here, but she can do something that ought to hurt quite a bit!

The flame wreathes come, but Nono shoots backward, up into the sky, too fast for the wreathes to catch up. And then she's shooting back down, swinging wide around one ring, flying over another, flying through a third hoop in the air, and then she pulls her fist back and screams, "BUSTER COLLIDER!!" as she drives her fist into JENOVA, and if it hits, the thick guards around her wrist slides open, revealing collider rods which extend into JENOVA's flesh, and then pump enough electric current into JENOVA to cook an elephant well-done in under ten seconds.

JENOVA turns its antlered head as the golden bird advances at impossible speed, and may - if it can regret anything - rue the moment it had decided to do so. All remaining tentacles are torn off, save for those that are sheared off by the force of that sonic wave, torn to writhing ribbons of bleeding, alien flesh that are soon clotted with sand and dust. The alien monstrocity goes still for only a moment...

Expectantly.

Perhaps it waits for just one of them to move and break one of those ring of flame.

The bolt of flame Lera tosses at JENOVA makes it rock slightly in place. The Bloody-Handed is torn from its body, ripping out a chunk of its skin--Angeal actually takes to the sky and assaults it with first one slash, and then... that will follow. For now... It bellows a shriek as grating as a hundred fingernails on slate, outrage and fury and murderous, unthinking thirst for their destruction.

This virus seeks only to survive and consume worlds. How DARE its PREY go so far?

The Buster Sword bites deep, nearly splitting JENOVA's torso in half down one 'shoulder' and sending it smashing into the sand, spear head gouging bleeding furrows in its side. Without its tentacles, it cannot physically thrash in a counterattack, and none of them have yet to cross those barriers of flame.

Uncountable shuriken pepper its body with shining metal, some falling free to the sand as it thrashes in pain; Tseng advances through a gauntlet of writhing pieces of JENOVA, blasting some out of his way with gunshots, others squirm just to get away from the hail of bullets. JENOVA is again fighting to rise, thundering the ground with a screech when electricity courses through its body -- the smell of burning, cooking alien is nothing short of VILE. It's wearing down, and now, it's only a matter of time. Another wave rolls out as it discharges the electricity poured into its body, converting some of the sand to swaths of natural glass, gritty and brown, and sweeps away every last flaming ring on this battleground.

The fire gutters out. Once again, Parker's free to move, so move he does--electricity arcs at him as he dodges, and he only takes a portion of the current. Still, it hurts like hell, and causes him to twitch for a moment or two. He tugs on the chain of his sword, causing the Judge to fall back to his side, from where it was dug into the ground.

Simon then charges the ailing, wounded JENOVA--who by now will definitely notice that the wounds caused by the Judge are bleeding more than they have any right to--and the Balseraph is about to give the monster a few more.

"virus!" Simon bellows. "Your contagion ends here and now!" The demon leaps into the air, swinging his sword with both hands as he slashes at what's left of Jenova's head. Should this connect, his next move is to ride the blade down the creature's body, using his weight to carve the abomination open. He wants to gag at the stench, at the acid burning his hands... but he carries on. He's too determined, too enraged, to think of doing anything else.

If and when Parker hits ground, his next action is to tear the blade out of Jenova's body, potentially showering the area in gore. One more stab is attempted, after which the blade is wrenched out. Using a Bleeding Blade against an opponent with acid blood might be an exercise in folly, but Parker doesn't have much of a choice.

As all the attacks start coming in, Shane realizes that perhaps being on -top- of Jenova may be a Very Bad Idea. He grabs his spear and flips off. The second he hits the ground, he starts running and just in time too. Nono dives in, smashing her first into Jenova.

He winces at the screeching sound and suddenly it's hit by a wall of electricity. It surges through his body, frying a good bit of internal bodily systems and he nearly falls to his knees. Only a timely stab into the dirty with his spear prevents that. Blood dribbles from the corners of his mouth and he brings up his wrist to wipe it away. "Okay! I'm not playin' anymore!"

He glances to Lera and grins at her, "Come on Miss Cathak! Time ta fly!" He reaches out with his hand, waiting for her to clasp it. She's a Dragon Blood. If she's anything like Alice, she'll go for this. Right? When she does take his hand, he plants both feet solidly into the ground and grasps her wrist with is other hand.

There's a grunt as he wrenches his body and around spins at one and half rotations before letting go, tossing Lera at Jenova with a might hammer throw.

Simon then scrambles out of the way, seeing the incoming Dragon-Blood. He has no desired to be broiled by her anima, or by the torrents of blood that will undoubtedly come out of that thing.

<<"Stop her from rising, use the long range missles if you have too--">>

There were limitations to what damage Tseng could do with his guns alone. It was better were she prostrate, calling in the helicopter and the Turk flying it. The rest of what he had to say was interrupted by the rippling wave of crackling energy, causing the transmission to die immeadiately as the electricity slipped past the protection he wore with ease, slamming into his body with a sudden surge of pain. A pity she knew variety. Gritting his teeth, he shrugged it off, tightning his fingers about the guns he carried, it'd take more than that to knock him down, and for long at that.

"Heads up Angeal, Nono." Calling out loud as he could, not trusting the radio for the moment till it came back to life-- the air would be alive soon enough with streaking smoke trails. Those were warning enough, should they land, the ShinRa missiles packed more than a hefty punch, their combined force enough to blow small craters in fields.

"Right, Mister Fitzgerald!" Lera shouts. She smiles at him - clutching hard onto his wrist. She nods and lets herself get spun around, going up into the air. She closes her eyes for a moment and focuses, preparing to activate her anima banner. When he lets go, she goes flying free - curling into a ball as she hurtles towards Jenova.

Her anima banner flares to existence in full with a thought, flame erupting off her. She hits Jenova hard and kicks off her, going airborne and swinging her sword down with both hands. That kick sends her back into the air. She sucks in a deep breath.

She then smiles a proud little grin.

"Ten thousand dragons rule the world!" she shouts, going plummeting downward; fire erupts along her sword, as she slams into the ground, and slashes hard - fire exploding off her sword in one mighty blow!

Patience was the key, evidently, and Maria's all too happy to do that. Charing in hot on Simon's heels, she seems intent on not being outdone by the Balseraph. I mean, really, outdone by a demon? What sort of Scion would she be?

A hand reaches into her jacket, pulling out that pen, the Spear of Truth, the birthright. Of course, it quickly shifts forms into the spear once held by Athena. With no tentacles to worry about, Maria closes in, spinning the weapon around, then thrusting once.

Then twice, then several more times at an exceptionally rapid pace. She doesn't have the power the others here have, but she at least has speed in her favor. Just as quickly, she dashes from range, not interested in interfering with falling dragonblood.

Angel wings... Rufus glances Simon's way as the demonic lawyer mistakes the SOLDIER for his namesake, but he says nothing beyond a promise to start casting healing spells. (After all, when Simon initially told him wait, no, don't attack, he IS the demon!, Rufus was all oh okay lol. Sometimes being new to the Hub and the worlds beyond can make you startlingly accepting, because you just assume everything that's weird is *supposed* to be weird. ...At least, Rufus resolved to carry himself this way to not look like a noob. It's been working quite well for him so far!) They're working JENOVA over pretty hard, but the alien fiend is working them over pretty hard, too.

"You'll take none of us with you to Hell, fiend," Rufus states coolly, ducking and dropping into a backwards roll as it discharges some of the electricity Nono pumped into its body to manage to avoid its attack entirely. He murmurs, sending his mana into a spell of bright healing that will pour down over a circular area, times it just right so that it happens to heal Simon, Nono, Angeal and Shane, but nobody else, as they are the most injured. It's funny how that works out sometimes, huh?

Electricity arcs out from JENOVA's body, destroying several of Naruto's clones and zapping his real body. He yelps and clutches himself as the bolt passes through him, reminded inescapably of Sasuke's electric Chidori attack... But the blast also destroyed the flame ring that held him trapped. The moment he realizes this, he darts forward, dismissing all the shadow clones that still remain... and preparing to bring out more. "Mass Shadow Clone Art!"

SUDDENLY: HUNDREDS OF NARUTOS. Quite literally. They stare at JENOVA for a split second, before shouting out and attacking in near-perfect synchronization. Punches, kicks, dozens at a time from all directions at once, all aimed to do as much damage as possible. The real Naruto stays back, directing his duplicates with loud shouts -- though it's really more for effect than anything. They know what to do, they're him.

Though Angeal attempts to get clear before the Buster Machine releases her attack, metal swords conduct quite well. His muscles tighten as the shock of the discharge is channeled through the length of his weapon, but he manages to keep his grip. Focus, that's important. It's why he centers his attention on Jenova and the battle at hand rather than answer those speaking to him on the radio chatter. Zack can be answered later. The SOLDIER glances for another opening, somewhere on the monster that is not being assaulted. The pressure of those bringing their own assaults to bear against Jenova is felt all around him.

Ground Zero is not the place to be.

Immense explosions and searing comets, flames and shadow clones crash into the viral demon, but Angeal is shooting clear, taking to the sky once more on the wake of the metaphorical - and literal - explosion.

"Aaaah!" Nono shrills, because her own assault was just turned against her and NOW SHE IS DELICIOUS BARBECUE AS WELL. She cries out in pain, her whole body seizing up as the electricity leaps through her muscles, and she emits a low groan of pain and choked cries that only stop when Rufus bathes her in healing light. She blinks away tears behind her orange visor, looking over at Rufus, and nodding. "Thank you!" she calls, but then she's moving again - away, away from ground zero, where everything's happening. The missile silos on her legs slide open, Buster Missile emitters charging slowly. She looks down, mentally targetting Jenova again and again and again and again, and then calls, "GET CLEAR!" before the silos discharge - a blazing stream of blue-white energy, shrieking down toward JENOVA, each one exploding a little on impact.

Is JENOVA even aware of the meaning of these words? No sign of such awareness or understanding here; only copiously bleeding wounds more numerous than one can count and that number keeps rising, rents in purplish skin carved deeper by every gouging bullet, every sharp blade. The Bleeding Blade tears into JENOVA again, again, again, every time releasing a hissing, acidic shower of blackish, oily ichor, the torso of JENOVA twisting, swaying drunkenly side to side as the assault continues now from the Dragonblooded. Who seems to become a living comet that hurtles, blazing, through the air and then THROUGH the alien monstrocity, blasting apart large, reeking pieces of its flesh in the resultant explosion.

Missiles combust, breaking apart JENOVA's body until it's been split down into three large sections of its torso--and it is somehow STILL alive, its head burst like a melon, pieces of its antlers and head falling like rinds.

The Spear of Truth mercilessly, and without discrimination pierces each in turn, and before they can even attempt to attach filiments to their assailents the fragments of JENOVA are obliterated, first by a mass of orange-clad ninjas, and finished off at last -- atomized -- by the blast that Nono levels on JENOVA's remains.

There's nothing left but scorched, glassed sand.

And it's over. One can almost hear the victory music playing in the background. Maybe it is. Maybe it's all in Shane's head. But he's standing on the ground, taking a deep breath. His clothing are heavily damaged, but the acid is fortunately not eating through more of it thanks to Maria's Aegis and the worst of the injuries were healed magically by Rufus's spell.

He looks like he's had better days though. Much better days. He's still covered in Jenova Juice but he's grinning. It's over. Finally truly over. Reaching out for his spear, he pulls it out of the ground and then lets it vanishe. "Whew.. that was a great job everyone!" He shouts, raising a fist into the air.

Simon does not look at JENOVA as the others open fire. Trailing the Judge--which is, amazingly, still undamaged--he retreats to a safe distance, and sinks to his knees behind a sand dune. His hands are burning, but they're also a biohazard. And then they are no longer burning, as Rufus' healing spell knits the wounds and neutralizes the acid--the aching in his chest is gone, too.

Then Parker turns to stare at the crater that used to be an alien virus. "...Nice work," he says. "Who else needs to go home with the biohazard team?"

"Very nice." Maria observes the neatly glassed area, her spear resting on her shoulder. She is dirty, splotches of the monstrosity's blood. "Parker, I think I may have to take you up on that offer.

On that note, she removes her business suit's jacket, holding it away from her body at an arm's length with pinched fingers.

"I'm with yeh on that Mr. Parker. Everyone else okay? Alive?" Shane asks.

Lera swings her sword out - flicking off the last bits of her enemy onto the sand. She frowns and wipes her face off; a quick glance is given to Shane. The throwing thing worked rather well, she decides! She smiles, before she looks over at Simon and Maria. She nods her head.

"That would be wise," she says, with a sigh. "I feel a little... well, uh..." She makes a face.

That...had been a little unexpected. Truely, it was near daunting how it was the multiverse could spawn its on version of 'super soldiers' to fight. Tseng had barely managed to get out of the way from the heavier backlash of the combined peppered assault on Jenova-- there'd be no rising for her. If his own concerted volley of missiles had assured it, the rest virtually cemented it. <<"Status Boss?">> Tseng was thoroughly dusty, his black suit now closer to a shade of ash grey and a scent of charr about him. Somehow though, his hair managed to remain mostly drawn back, only a strand or two falling into his serious face. There was no open exultation here, only a wariness...studying the remains, the glassy reflection.

<<"Remain at the battle perimeter, I'll join you there.">> The radio back up again, Tseng was not yet convinced this was the end of things, it was his job to make sure all the evidence pointed to it. Fact, that was what he needed, so only when he made a thorough search of the area with or without the IPA's direct aid, would be he satisfied. And only when he completed a brief walk about, would he allow himself a small measure of...relief.

The paired guns were eased back into their holsters, a moment taken to smooth back errant strands into place. <<"Link with headquarters and notify them of our present position, I want a team here with or before the official IPA arrives.">> Speaking quietly. And then, <<"Check on those three.">> As an afterthought-- who else?

The rest of the team would gain solemn nods, perhaps a supported word or two, but it would remain clear...That Tseng had other matters to attend too, than socialising. Anyone who needed to get back quickly however, would be offered a ride in the helicopter, but that was as far as his 'friendliness' went. A Turk would remain, a Turk.

With the conclusion of the barrage, Angeal lands - though still some distance from the impact crater. The dual-wing on his right side folds close and remains visible. Slowly, he begins to approach the spot that Jenova fell. Slowly. Never underestimate the tenacity of Jenova cells. SOLDIER is an example of that. And Angeal...

But even the creature seems to have been unable to survive the massive, final assault. But still, the instinct is to check. And check carefully.

...Though the dischord is gone, leaving only the Beam's song to mako. That should assure him soon enough. Right?

The Narutos pant and rest their hands on their knees for a moment, waiting to see if JENOVA can come back from vaporization... But after a few seconds, no reappearance seems to be coming. And so, all of them pump their fists in the air and shout as one, "WE DID IT!!"

The clones begin to vanish now, popping into smoke and nothing, and the original Naruto flops unceremoniously down on his rear, finally letting himself breathe a little heavily. He got out of that fairly well, all things considered, but it was still a tense and tiring battle. "Whew! I'm beat! And hungry! Anybody up for some ramen?" Because EATING SOLVES EVERYTHING, damn it.

Oh, god, disgusting. If nothing else, it's good that Jenova's gone for good because fighting her and things with her cells in them is always so damn messy. At least they'll be able to clean up all right, eventually. Rufus pulls a brief face, then turns to the others. "A meal...might well be in order," he says consideringly, at Naruto's suggestion. "I'll have something delivered to each of us while we're getting cleaned up in the hospital." He smiles slightly. "Feel free to order whatever you like, each of you. It's a small reward for a job well done."

Somewhere on the sidelines of the conversation, Angeal is making a quiet call, once he's finished his search of the scarred area. The conversation is quiet, lasts only a little. The phone is closed and he starts to move away from the talk of hospitals and checkups. Yes, Tseng. He is approaching you. "I'd like to get a ride back with you."

That way, it'll be easier to avoid the questions. And the examination.

The Turk paused briefly on the radio, his gaze sliding on over the ex-SOLDIER and 'hmphed' to himself. He went back on talking in his clipped tones, but there was the barest of a nod. The barest.

Nono watches, quietly, as people celebrate JENOVA's destruction. She closes her eyes.

This fight is over. To know that her weapons could help everyone win so thoroughly is a comfort.

But...she's been reminded that she must be vigilant, or else more people like this will be hurt.

A sigh, and as everyone retreats from this forsaken hell, Nono shoots skyward, toward the heavens - toward a distance where she can Warp in safety.