Serpico looks over at the tree at Alexis' yell (Delay Action after Asch if i have to). He thinks for just an instant, and then grins. "Here's hoping, then!" He runs to the tree, and casts a rune around it.

[Speed Rune: Defense: Reversal Field. Anything that tries to cross this circle will be pushed backwards]

After that, he takes a defensive posture, both against the swarms of altered mortals, and also, with one eye on the tree to see what happens when Asch's funnier side breaks the illusion

Defense: What's outside
Defense: What's inside

Flying over to where the tree is, Lumina uses her Lightning Rune to create a field of static electricity along the ground. This results in a serious case of static cling. Unless countered, the incoming infected mortals will have their movement seriously hampered as their feet cling to the ground.

[Lightning Rune - Static Cling x2]

After that is done, she takes a moment to recharge on her ether.

[Ether Regen]

Harmony frowns for a moment, then flies over to the Awakener. Without asking for permission, she lays a hand on his armor, listening for that same 'disharmony' she has been hearing from the others. She has been around the Awakener enough that she knows what he 'sounds' like - she tunes in on that, and tries to bring that disharmony closer to the normal song of what the Awakener sounds like.

The Awakener's soul's song is one of the most bizarre that Harmony has ever heard. A hollow sound, like a gong being struck, but somehow more hollow - more despondant - reverberating in the darkness. Once it resonates, and fades away, the note repeats once more. Like a heartbeat, but only a single echoing pulse.

"Hold still. I might be able to slow the infection."

[Harmony Rune - Tune to Awakener's Soul]
[Harmony Rune - 2x Bring Awakener's 'Song' back to normal]

Chandi's head snaps towards Asch as the detective begins to scream, her hand instinctively squeezing on her end of the noose, and subsequently pulling the rope even tighter around the mortal girl. "Oh, great." Chandi mutters, her face falling from shock to irritation. "The red one's back. Riddles ahoy." As Ashley approaches the tree, Chandi's eyes widen, and she raises the back of her hand to the side of her forehead before groaning and muttering to herself. "We literally just had a long conversation about doing things without telling the others what or why. You were complaining about Alexis doing this same thing." Chandi groans again. "We are worse than Bliss. That is an accomplishment right there." When The Awakener begins to speak, Chandi turns to it, and listens closely. "You weren't who I addressed at all, but thank you for actually giving us some information. You are an oasis of hope in this free-for-all mess of a squad." Chandi takes a moment to breath, calm her nerves, and ignore the hypocrisy of her last statement. "Did it happen because of the scan?" She asks, after a moment. "Using runes on these Mortals?" Before she gets a proper response, Chandi takes a moment to look at the ravenous mortals surrounding the group, before letting out a soft breath. The air from the breath becomes visible, just for a moment, with the glimmer of a rune. And then a breeze blows by from the direction furthest from the crystal and the tree. It lingers in the air, gliding between the Mortals and Gods alike, hovering before the face before continuing its path. The breeze smells of roaring fires, and roasting meat, and a bountiful source of food. "Let's see if Senkoumaru's little trick works with these guys." She says, quietly to the group still close enough to hear her.

[Support Rune: Breeze - Downwind x2]
[Support Rune: Modification - Scent in the Air]

Chandi does a bit of manipulation on the wind and suddenly the smell of a great feast wafts over the area from far away to the east. Instantly all of the horde around them turns and sniffs the air; a shorter, but perfectly unified cry tears out of each of them and they all tear off to the east, following the smell. The only one that cannot is the girl in Chandi's rope.

In the meantime Alexis drops off the newly changed Ashley and erects a safe-aura around the group.

Ashley approaches the tree, gathering Ether into her palm. Before she can fire at the illusion, a shot of yellow energy comes tearing out of the tree top spiraling through the air and slams into the head of the caught girl, removing the head into a spray of red mist. The body twists like a sick yo yo as the rope unwinds and her body hits the ground.

Ashley's energy slams into the tree and the illusion shatters like so much torn fabric - sitting in the branches of the real form of the tree, which is barren and leafless, is a young blond arbiter with a tied back tail, sunglasses, and tight green bandages wrapped around his legs. He holds one of two pistols, the other holstered at his side, the prior aimed direct at where the girl's head used to be. "Whew..." He slides down the tree and holsters his still smoking gun. "Had that clever Goddess not sent the meat puppets away they'd be swarming us right now. Well done miss, but they have a hive mind - if that girl had seen me they'd change their minds about the free hot meal and come try to finish me." He pushes his sunglasses up on his face, "They aren't pleased with me much."

He walks over, limping, as Harmony attunes to The Awakener. "I wouldn't try that unless you want to speed up your own Blight." He stops her from trying to fix The Awakener, "You touch his soul, it spreads to you. You're all infected, you have been since the moment you set foot on this world. I've managed to figure how it spreads - as a couple of you have learned touching the energy directly speeds it up." He tosses a disc into the air that folds out into a screen of sorts and zips off, a moment later he makes a distasteful sound, "Name's Shin, I'm sure you've heard of me. We need to get out of here before the meat puppet horde turns around and comes back - I've got a home base set up inside a cave in the park waterfall close by - I'd appreciate it, " he shoots a glare at Ashley, "If you didn't break it. There's not many safe places left on this world and I guess we need to work together to get off it."

He begins to hobble back towards the cave, "Let me guess... your Soul Recall doesn't work and you can't communicate with HQ either right?"

Hovering down and after him, Ashley flashes her daggerlike grin at Shin. "Sorry, sorry, I just can't help myself. I see someone using an illusion that's not me and it's all - I - can - THINK - about." She cackles to herself and says, "Shame Asch is out of commission at the moment, I'm sure she'd love to swap notes with you. I'm stuck with this wonky database that I can barely even use." Fluttering back and forth she says, "Ah, but I do see what the last note she made was before she got zapped. Something about a connection between the Leyline of this planet, that horde, and that crystal. Ahahahaha! So you say it's an infection of the soul then? Well that seems easy enough to figure out! AH hahahahahah!" She almost seems to find this funny.

"No!"

Alexis looks at the little girl's body in shocked disbelief. After a moment, he slowly turns in the air, giving Shin an angry glare.

Then, with a flick of a wing, he turns again and starts flying in the direction of the crystal. He furls his black Arbiter wings, relying rather on his natural ones.

"Come on," he says to the others, "let's go deal with that crystal."

Harmony clenches her teeth at the ruthless killing of the girl, but decides she has more important things to worry about.

"MUSE? Is he telling the truth?"

##############

Well?

[Well what?]

Not you. Her. Can you contact Athena?

/...well that's not good/

Let me guess. You can't contact her.

/I do not think she can even see us through her shift at the moment. We're totally cut off from all communcication and... ...confirmed. The Recall Runes are inactive as well. We are on our own.../

Can you tell exactly how our communications are being blocked?

/There seems to be a barrier around the planet - semi permiable. Shin may know about it - from what I can detect it's made to let things in but nothing else. It's connected to the Black Crystal./

Why am I not surprised.

##############

"Well?"

MUSE hums in the air for a moment, bobbing back and forth as the inner dialogue progresses, before finally becoming still.

"Yep. We're screwed."

##############

*sigh*

[What?]

It couldn't have been the Dark Crystal. At least then we'd be dealing with Gelflings and Mystics.

[Yes, but we'd also have to be dealing with the Skeksis.]

Wait, didn't the Mystics and the Skeksis join together and Ascend in the end?

[Indeed. I enjoyed that planet... the Mystics had beautiful harmony.]

###############

Serpico lets out a calm sigh. "Silly bat. You never stop and think. So lets just slow down for a minute."

He rapidly casts his runes, to bring Alexis to a halt in the air.

[Speed Rune X 3: Attack: Slowdown]

He turns to Shin. "Have to say, as rough as this one looks, you look like you held out really well!"

"Seerrrppppiiiiiccccccooooooo..." begins Alexis, his voice getting deeper as it slows down. He stops, and tries again, talking as quickly as he can. "Serpico. I am not going to be working with him. The way I see it, we'll have to deal with the crystal sooner or later, and sooner will be better before this Blight takes us. It's already got the Awakener's feet."

Alexis continues to head towards the crystal in slow motion.

As the shot rings out, Chandi's eyes fall to the bloody corpse of the girl sliding out of her Shift. "Wha...? Who?" Chandi sinks to the ground, landing next to the small child's headless body, eyes locked on the ichor dripping from the remains of the girl's neck. Chandi's thoughts drift for a moment, back to Ryuusei's home world, and the little Cyber girl she had waved at upon Asch's and her arrival in their capital city. Chandi becomes acutely aware of her own pulse, and the blood pumping through her body. It's practically boiling. Chandi's teeth grind together, and she closes her eyes tightly, heartbeat throbbing in her head. "Innocent little Mortal girl caught up in all of this. She didn't deserve that." The words are quiet, nearly inaudible to even Chandi's own ears. The pulsating rhythm of her heartbeat grows louder. "No. No. You can't do this. You just got finished calling Asch a hypocrite. Don't break your own word. Calm down. Calm down." She continues to repeat this little mantra to herself for a few short moments, before planting her hand firmly across her face, a bright red rune flashing into existence, before fading into a soft golden color.

[Support Rune - Emotion: Focused Anger to Collected Restraint]

The light seems to drain away Chandi's fury, and replace it with a determination to get the job finished, as quickly and painlessly as possible for everyone. There's a small voice in the back of her mind screaming to rip Shin's head off in retaliation, but it has been suppressed for now.

"Your reputation fails to precede you." Chandi says to Shin, politely, with almost no hint of emotion in her voice. She turns her gaze towards the slowed Alexis. "Alexis, we appreciate your concern, and understand your misgivings about the current situation, but you are rushing headfirst into something we know little about. Suppose getting closer to the crystal speeds up the blight? Suppose merely touching it with your ether instantaneously turns you? Remember what Athena said to us, and to you?" Chandi takes a deep breath, and flexes her hand. "You are a good ally, Alexis. We don't need to lose you to hasty actions." The same golden rune appears in her hands. "I'm not telling you that you have to enjoy working with Shin. But for now, it is necessary. And while I would rather not calm you down forcefully, I will for the sake of this mission, and the Mortals we're trying to save. Now will you cooperate peacefully, or will I have to use my new rune?"

"Calmnesss willl make no diffference." insists Alexis, his wings slowly beating. "This is not a mattter of anger. This is a mattter of conscience. I. Will. Not. Work. With. Him. Unlesss your new Rune is mind control, it won't change that." He thinks about it for a moment, then adds "And if it is mind control, then I willl be angry when it wears offf."

"Well little bat buddy." Shin levels a pistol at Alexis, "The Goddess here is right. You use your Ether on that crystal, as both the tin can and switch-witch have done and you've got this blight. Hell, you've all got it already it's just not showing. Now you don't like me? Boo-friggen-hoo. Go back and cry to Mama Athena when this is all done. Like it or not, I have info you all need and you all have health I don't to get things done." He cocks the gun, a small bit at the back begins to spin and charge energy. "Now you gonna come with me and play nice, or am I gonna have to shoot you down so you don't bring this blasted apocalypse down on our heads? I know what that Crystal will do to you, I've seen it." He waits for a reply.

"I already know," insists Alexis, drawing on his Dark Rune, "how to use Ether on the Crystal without picking up the -"

He fires off a burst of Dark at Shin's eyes, hoping that this Arbiter can't echolocate.

"- Blight." he adds.

Dark Rune: Blind Shin

At Alexis' attempt to blind Shin, Chandi grimaces, and reaches out to the attack with a rune of her own.

[Defensive Rune - Deviation: Dissipation]

"Glad you've figured something out. Now care to share it with the rest of us, and how you figured it out, or are you going to ignore Athena's advice and continue to fail communicating with the rest of us?" Chandi's teeth tighten, grinding together before she lets out a restrained sigh. "If it's a matter of conscience, then listen to your conscience, Alexis. What is better for these mortals? Flying off the handle and hoping our luck lasts? Or getting information so we can end this quickly?" Chandi's rune glows brightly, and splits, disappearing for a moment before returning around both her head and Alexis' in an almost halo-like manner. "I'm not asking you to forgive or even like Shin. Hate him all you want. Let your conscience despise every aspect of his being. But focus on something greater than that for now. If not for our sake, then for my sake because much as you frustrate me, I do not want to harm you. And if not for my sake, then for the sake of the Mortals of this planet who need all of us."

[Support Rune - Influence: Share Focus]

"As for you." Chandi says, turning her head towards Shin. "My name is Chandi. The 'tin-can' is The Awakener. 'Switch-Witch' is..." Chandi pauses trying to recall the name, "Ashley. For now. Our well-intentioned friend up there is Alexis. The girl with the ball of light is Harmony. The girl with the fox is Lumina. you already know Serpico, or so we've been told. Please remember those names, as there are quite a few of us 'Goddesses' here, and the last thing we need is more miscommunication." She pauses a moment, then takes a deep breath. "And if you behave, we may be able to heal some of your wounds." Chandi raises her voice, just enough for the group. "Let's get into the cave and out of the open. I want to avoid wasting any more ether on keeping the Mortals out of harm's way, and we need to examine the blight, and listen to what Shin has to say. Ashley, can you make a better illusion to keep us hidden?"