((Pi, don't forget that Exile place or whatever it was when you get back.))
Kurduhm, Silversmith District
What was this man? He could see someone hidden by invisibility... The Phantom Phoenix ducked so that its head would not be visible from the street, before revealing its brilliant orange head and one red feather in a 'shush' gesture.
Turning around, the Phoenix saw... nothing. They'd left, and were having their fight somewhere else.
Turning entirely invisible again, the Phantom Phoenix began flying over the city, searching for the two combatants, creating the slightest of shimmers in the air. What was this... Asura? It looked like a demon... and yet it fought, at least ostensibly, for the sake of Kurduhm. Or did it? What... was it? Was it dangerous?
It does not matter at the moment. Arkhov must perish, for our citizens' sake. I will avoid hitting Asura... for now.
Kurduhm, Eastern Wall
"Incoming!"
At Amy's shout, Erk and Serra sidestepped the boulder. A rock from the falling building fell behind Erk, sending a small chunk of rubble flying into his leg. Erk winced. "Serra!"
"I got it!" Serra used Mend to begin restoring the damage caused. Erk looked back up at Vhytel. He had to aim right- and apparently, he had to avoid hitting Akuma. Now why would Retribution harm Akuma... never mind! Erk aimed carefully, then unleashed Retribution straight in Vhytel's direction.
Meanwhile, Amy glared at Arkhov. "Oh, hey! You ran away before I could drive my boot into your throat, you ugly, cowardly creep!" Amy lifted her pistol. "I still don't see why you brought a knife that's been eating too much to a gunfight. Get with the times, jerk!" Amy kept her eyes on Arkhov, looking for the perfect opportunity to fire.
"OW!" The Turbo-Minotaur veered off wildly, reacting from Cerok's attack. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT! YOU SENT ME INTO A RAGE! FIRST THE CRAZY REDHEAD AND HER SONIC BOOM VOMITING BOYFRIEND, THEN THESE GUYS..." (For the record, Turbo's probably wrong about that.)
Regaining his balance, Turbo began hovering, waiting for Genevra or Cerok to make a move toward him.
Kurduhm, behind a wrecked building
Behind the scenes, a corpulent figure climbed out of the rubble. "RRRRRGH! That was RUDE... Oh, so very rude!" Now, don't get me wrong. Qada the Salve-Maker, despite technically being a qualified medical doctor, wasn't concerned about the others that were in the building. He'd spent fifteen entire minutes working in there on a formula! What a waste!
Qada looked at the fight with disinterest. "My employer probably doesn't care about this... I'd better get on with the compound. After all, DeRosa can't do EVERYTHING himself. He can't do ANYTHING himself, really..." Qada began jogging down the alleyway (at a surprising pace, considering how not in shape he was), entirely disinterested with the incredibly powrerful beings, as he would later put it, "wasting their time swinging swords at each other."
Kurduhm, Artisans' District
"Ah! A safe route, thank the Maker. Succor is at hand, my friends!" Dan climbed out of the sewer. "Come along, then. We'd better move quickly, before someone finds out..."
Dan walked outside, only to spot a very fat man running at a surprising rate.
"Those annoying devils, bothering me, blowing up my formulas!" Qada was very annoyed. He stopped and started talking to himself. "Well, now that I'm OUT of their sight... I can get back to my work."
"Good sir!" Dan approached Qada. "I must ask of you. You speak of devils bothering you? Are they... still chasing you?"
"CHASING me? Oh, they never saw me." Qada glared, his normally comical accent turning harsh for just a moment. "If ANYONE chased me... they'd be dead."
"I... see." Dan nodded. "Well, then! We shall be on our way... come, my friends! Move along."
West Portal Sector, Exterior
((By the way, was Aurora present when Profiteur asked Erk's group to fight to stop anyone hacking the East Portal Sector?))
The klaxon kept blaring. DeRosa turned to face the android. "Ah, yes, they are, aren't they? But I suppose that's what you'll find in a city where they've recruited an invisible phoenix into the army."
"Man, now I remember what I'm supposed to be doing!" Rick scratched his head. "I was supposed to stop somebody from hackin' the East Portal Sector. I better go check in there..."
The Spy watched, trying to keep himself from making an annoyed face, as Rick walked into the Portal Sector...
West Portal Sector, Interior
Claptrap shot down a security turret with his Sniper Rifle. "Wow, I actually hit that one!" Now undisturbed, Claptrap continued hacking...
"FREEZE, DIRTBAG!" Rick leapt into the room and, before Spy could do anything, shot a rocket...
"Blizzara!"
A blast of ice issued from DeRosa's hand, freezing the rocket in place. "Afraid I can't let you do that, Rick."
"Whoa! What gives, bro?!"
"You've no need to know... only to leave, now, before I'm forced to kill you."
Rick raised his Portal Gun. "Yeah, right! You're probably one of those guys Profitude was talkin' about."
Spy was closing behind Rick... but then he stopped for a bit. Profitude? That sounded like an idiot saying... Profiteur...
"Hmph. Claptrap, continue hacking. Now, why don't we settle this... the old-fashioned way?"
"Man, no WAY am I gonna let you Crappo-Primus guys take over the place!"
Spy shrugged. He was being paid, and that was all that mattered. Spy lifted his knife...
Kurduhm, Hawk Forest
Severa lifted her arms, shielding herself from...
...nothing. The light flew right past them all.
"...huh." Severa stared at the lights. "What... are those?"
"Jumpluff, Skarmory. Get ready for anything." Wes took a look at the lights. "Now what could be in there..."
--Tower of Turrets, Fourth Floor--
CLANG! The sword struck Mr. Toasty in a spot where it would be very sore if Mr. Toasty could feel anything.
Mr. Toasty retaliated by firing a random scroll... Ooh, Flesh to Stone. That was gonna...
THOOP! Instead of CASTING the spell on the scroll, the mechanism in Mr. Toasty's gun launched the scroll out, which probably wouldn't do anything considering the scroll was made of paper. Feeling some semblance of artificial annoyance, Mr. Toasty followed up with Frost Lance.
(Frost Lance fires three ice rays in rapid succession.)
Mr. Toasty is at 125000 HP.
--Caveland--
"Huh?" Eta heard someone drilling ahead. "Uh-oh. Hope we didn't accidentally wander onto someone's claim. That could get ugly. Have you SEEN the kind of red tape you have to go throu-"
The cat jumped on Eta's head, and Eta reacted. "Hey, I have a kitty on my head! Guys, look!"
((Before I forget, another character.))
--Kurduhm, Silversmith District--
A hooded figure walked up to the whatever-was-on-the-wall. "Hello there, how are you today?" he said in an odd Far Eastern accent.