COUP DE GRÂCE - SIEGE PART II

[Steph Dearly]

A Dalmatian sneaked in the palace with four eyes looking to help her fellow rogues out. She would do anything to ensure victory was happening for her side. She watched carefully in case someone approached her.

[Tucker]

"I think I am,"

“Just keep telling yourself that kitty-cat!” Tucker voice is still muffled as he bites into the cat’s back again, giving a grunt as the lion underneath starts to shake him off . Not wanting to be crushed underneath the emaciated cat, Tucker leaps off taking a chunk of flesh with him spitting the flesh and fur to the ground swiping at his maw with a paw to rid of the strands of hair between his teeth

“Yuck!” Tucker grumbles, a second later he darted forward biting down on the lion’s thigh, if he could damage one of the legs the rest would follow. Tucker darted back and forth snarling and snapping at Kopa using mock lunges. Tucker remembered reading something on how wild Africa dogs took down their prey by biting and retreating, the process slowly weakens the prey animal.

[Morren and Esca]

Her second arrow struck true and yet the creature seemed to not be slowed at all. A bullet in its thigh and an arrow stuck in its mouth seemed to not register beyond a limp and not being able to fully close its mouth. Whatever it was, it was determined to rip both her and Thomas apart and now it was too close for her bow to have any more effect because she had no time to draw it fully.

Morren pulled out the only other thing she had on her, her obsidian dagger. Thomas was still reloading and until his weapon was ready to go again, he was vulnerable so it would be up to her to keep Maul at bay for as long as possible. Thomas's bullets seemed to be far more effective than anything she or Esca could do.

"Get back!" she yelled at him, feeling the odd sensation of having something stuck in her mouth and between her teeth despite there being nothing there. She raised her arms and launched herself forward to grab and stab at the creature while Thomas did what he needed.

Esca, somewhat recovering from the last attack, charged towards the creature from behind at the same time as Morren charged forwards, even though it would likely end up with more painful quills stuck in his mouth and face. With two enemies coming from two different directions, Maul would be sufficiently distracted from the man and his gun.

[Clopin]

Clopin went for Nasira, but she sidestepped cat-quick and send a thick torrent of fire from her open palm.

With the force of Nasira's smack, Taylor went flying a short distance, with the floor of the palace breaking her fall. Her dagger clanged to the ground, thankfully close enough for her to grab it. She wiped a small drop of blood away from her mouth--it seemed that one of Nasira's nails had managed to cut her.

Clopin nearly jumped to her defense, but chose to focus on his real target, looking at his assassin for the briefest moment with an expression that read I'm sorry etched onto his face. When he made a move towards the vizier, she sidestepped him before he could swing his scythe, and he nearly missed the torrent of fire that shot in his direction, thanks to his quick reflexes. He immediately got up and spun around, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Clopin knew very well that he wouldn't be able to dodge her every attack, so he'd have to think on his feet.

Meanwhile, Taylor trained her gaze on Nereus, who kept shouting that she was going to die. She gritted her teeth and pulled herself back up from the floor, dagger poised for attack as this weird fish monster came running at her. As Nereus grew ever closer, Taylor felt a whoosh in front of her, and she leapt back in response. One quick look told her all she needed to know: Jafar...no Malak, had come to her rescue.

Since his return to the land of the living, Clopin had taken Malak in, obeying what the demon had told him. Jafar was essentially a blank slate, perfect for molding him into a soldier worthy of his ranks. He remembered absolutely nothing. And so, with some training and a bit of magic, Malak had been able to attack others with considerable force.

The former sorcerer shot a beam of magic from his palm, directly in Nereus' direction. There was only one thing Clopin had told him: protect his fellow soldiers.

"Taylor! Are you alright?" Malak asked, turning his head towards the assassin.

"Yeah. I'm good." Taylor muttered, as she leapt to Malak's side to help him fend off Nereus.

Clopin's method of attack was much more...unpredictable. He took a running start towards the necromancer, leapt as high as he could into the air, and disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

[Nasira]

The world rocked for a moment. Nasira's eyes widened in surprise, and her mouth fell open. "Jafar?!" But how? He died! She saw him die! Nasira took an automatic step forward.

But it was as though she had said nothing at all. Her brother did not so much as look at her. He just kept walking. Nasira stopped and stared uncomprehendingly. Something was wrong.

His arm extended. Nasira realized what he was intending to do. "Wait! Don't hurt her!" She moved. "Stop!" But he did not stop. A translucent shield materialized from her open palms to deflect the beam. But Nasira was too late.

"Taylor! Are you alright?"

"No..." Nasira stared at Jafar in horrified incredulity as her mind flailed about, searching for some kind of explanation - anything at all. She could not believe what he was saying. She could not believe what he just did. Nasira felt disoriented. She had hardly got used to the reality that Frollo had betrayed them. Now she had to face the fact that her brother was just as bad, if not worse. It shook the very foundation of her existence.

"Yeah. I'm good."

Nasira felt her anger rising. Jafar showing concern - genuine concern - for that loathsome flea was enough to make the necromancer's blood boil. "Oh to hell with you!" she snarled at the sprig-like assassin before returning her attention to her wayward brother. There was an ache in the back of the throat as she looked at him. This had to have been some kind of mistake. It had to be. "What do you think you're doing?!" she exploded. "Look at me, you fool! LOOK AT ME!"

Nasira could feel the weight of eyes upon her. She knew Maleficent was watching. He's my brother, she told her in her imagination. But that excuse did not satisfy the queen, even in her fantasy. Nasira was not so sure it satisfied herself. She knew Jafar better than most, and it pained her to acknowledge that this nightmare had always been within the realm of possibility. He had never truly accepted Maleficent as his queen, and now he was using the Rogues to take back Agrabah! Even if Jafar yielded, there was no guarantee Maleficent would take him back after that blatant display of treachery. That ship had sailed.

But he was her brother. "Think of what you're doing! You're not a Rogue! You're not. I know you're not." The words tumbled out desperately as Nasira advanced on him, not knowing what she intended to do. Her steps were uneven. Clopin was long forgotten.

"Please," she pleaded. "I'm begging you." One could hear the hope fading from the necromancer's voice. "Don't do this..."

[Nereus]

    Nereus just barely registered that something hit her pretty harshly in the side, and it was almost blinding pain. That magic attack that the weird human that looked similar to Undead Boss Lady definitely landed its shot, and it was very painful, to say the least. The mer creature hissed in pain as she felt some scales had begun to ooze blood due to the injury. Oh, now she was mad. Two against one was no fair!

    "That's no fair, two against one, you dirty cheaters!" Nereus snarled as she skidded to a halt in front of Taylor and Malak, her fins flared and eyes pinned into narrow slits in anger. "I'm going to tear your arm off, you magic infused monster!" 

    Nereus then charged again, heading not for Taylor this time, but Malak. Magic wasn't something she understood too well, but Nereus knew that magic was usually cast from the hands. So, take off the hands or the arms, and no more magic! At least in her mind. It didn't really register to her what Nasira was doing either, pleading with this enemy for some reason. But an enemy was an enemy, and she was determined to take them down. 

[Dr. Facilier]

Facilier whirled around as Emily pushed past them, having completely dodged his magic blasts. The force of her shield sent Mekonnen flying in the opposite direction, but luckily he managed to land on all four paws. Something about the force of…whatever that was had affected him in some way, but he wasn’t sure what. Pushing through the pain as best he could, Mekonnen returned to Facilier. The two of them set their sights on the young woman in the midst of all the chaos, as Facilier’s shadow rushed forward, grabbing ahold of Emily’s shadow. The pair then approached her slowly, with Facilier keeping another magical attack at bay.

“And where do you think you’re off to then?” Facilier asked her, instantly recognizing her for one of the King’s assassins. If he could at least kill one of them, maybe, just maybe it would be enough retribution to make up for what he had lost.

---

Back in the palace, Malak’s attention was split. He had managed to hit the strange scaled creature yes, but now, the woman who looked similar to him was yelling at him, obviously trying to grab his attention in any way she could.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Look at me, you fool! LOOK AT ME!"

Malak did not so much as give her a passing glance. He knew exactly what he was doing. This woman was the enemy, and as far as he was concerned, he was only following the orders of the man who was so kind enough to take him in and take him under his wing, regardless of how oddly…similar she looked to him.

“I’m only following what King Clopin ordered us to do as Rogues. Now leave us to our battle, Nasira.” Malak said, in a deadpan tone. He had absolutely no idea what this madwoman was raving on about, telling him that “this wasn’t him”, and that he should know better.

“And if I were you, I’d watch your back.”

In response to Malak’s obvious disinterest in his own sister, Taylor couldn’t help but sneer for a brief moment. Finally, the plan was coming to fruition, but it was far too early to start celebrating. She noticed that Nereus was barreling down onto Malak while he was distracted by Nasira’s theatrics, and she leapt to her former enemy’s defense, slashing at anything she could.

“Would you just cut it out already?! This isn’t any—of—your—business!” Taylor yelled, as she swung her silver dagger, ducking to avoid Nereus’ claws, and hopefully, her teeth.

“Oh Nasira.”

Clopin’s voice echoed from somewhere above them, as he rematerialized, scythe poised to strike the necromancer’s back as he barreled down onto her.

“Did you forget that your battle was with me?!” he shouted, his tone echoing the absolute glee he felt in not only torturing his greatest enemy physically, but mentally as well. The psychological warfare of waving her supposedly dead brother in front of her face was far more fulfilling than he could have ever imagined.

[Nasira]

"I'm only following what King Clopin ordered us to do as Rogues. Now leave us to our battle, Nasira."

Nasira gave a disconcerting, strangled laugh. It was not a very pleasant sound. "King Clopin?!" she repeated in a half-sob as if Jafar told her he had pledged himself to a hamster. "Have you taken leave of your wits as well as your loyalty?!" Nasira wanted so desperately to believe that he did not mean it, but even now she could not ignore what he just did to Nereus. Her vision blurred with tears. It was so monstrously unjust. She gave Jafar everything she had in her all for his ambition, and she made damn well sure their followers did the same. Now her brother had deserted them all in their hour of need and condemned himself with his own mouth.

Nasira could have sworn she saw Taylor sneer in the corner of her eye, and anger shot through her veins. She wanted to take a pair of scissors and cut that smirk into something more appropriate.

"Oh Nasira."

Clopin's scythe caught the base of Nasira's spine. She heard herself yell in alarm and pain, and it ricocheted off the walls as blood splattered all over the floor. She landed breathless in a heap.

"Did you forget that your battle was with me?!"

"Yes." Nasira was so lost in her grief that she had forgotten that Clopin was there. She cursed her carelessness.

Her fingertips twitched. Using her left arm to push herself up, Nasira's knees quaked and trembled, threatening to give out. Her back had a deep, long gash on it that was bleeding copiously, but she managed to stand her ground.

The look on the Rogue king's face was maddening. Her home was under attack, her sultana had been incapacitated, and her brother betrayed her - all of it his doing. The fact that Clopin was also relishing in the misery he caused was too much. Nasira was badly hurt but alive, and she was going to make him bleed.

Nasira's thin shoulders took on a predatory bow, and she sprang, crashing into Clopin hard. Using her right forearm to pin the Rogue's neck up against the wall with ruthless pressure, she dug her heels in, intending to use her weight to keep him immobilized. She then summoned a cruel flame to her unencumbered open palm and meticulously re-positioned her right arm, leaving Clopin's throat exposed.

Nasira's dark eyes were wide with bloodlust as the hungry flame in her dominant hand hissed and spat.

"You have my undivided attention now."

She clamped her hand down.

[Nereus]

    Nereus was going for Malak, the dirty cheater of an enemy magician, but then Taylor leapt towards her fellow soldier's aid. It was a heroic, but stupid action in that moment, and Nereus didn't care who she got at that point. Her teeth were wide open and claws posed to cut as deep as they could. She was ready for the kill.

    The mer creature did not land her initial target, but got Taylor instead in her leap of vengence, and that was enough for her. She held onto the struggling rogue with all of her might, and with a snarl, bit directly into one of Taylor's legs. Her sharp teeth tore, ripped, and teared into the human's tender flesh, and her claws did the same to the places she held onto on either her leg or abdomen. The blood that she felt flow freely was enough to through Nereus into a blood frenzy!

    "RRRrrrraaaagghhhhhh!" Nereus wildly snarled as she continued to tear into Taylor's leg over and over again with her teeth. She was definitely aiming to disable her, but if the delicate human died from the blood loss? That was fine with her, more to take for the army and more meat to go around. It would have been a waste then. It honestly did not register that Nasira was open to attack from other sides, but she was too focused on her current target, and continued with her assault. 

[Tabs]

        With all the sound and action, it would be difficult to think to pay mind to the noise of tapping and slithering from overhead -- like the spindly twitching legs of so many insects and the scales of a great serpent.  The abomination’s mask had slipped just ever so slightly in the past, but never for more than a moment.  Now, it was different.  Cellular structure had melted down and the cosmic horror gained a foot in the world of humans.

        Mind was all consumed in a mission of seek and destroy.  A thrum of deep static pulsated forth from the origin of the thing, creating an irritation of the eardrums as if the pressure was changing.  It couldn’t recognize individuals anymore, but it could tell friend from foe.  Enemies illuminated in red in its mind’s eye -- calling its rage straight to them like the wave of a red cape to a bull.

        It swung down once it was directly overhead.  What the former figure of the Overseer devolved into was difficult to describe in words.

((body horror below the spoiler))

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}

             Whatever it was, it was weird and pissed off.

        The black screens turned white.  As a whirring sound rapidly descended in pitch, the whites narrowed into concentrated pin pricks.  The air grew hot as its attack built power.  Four screens -- three enemies; it had one head to spare.  Muscle, sinew and pulsating veins covering the neck vertebrae moved suddenly, more like a machine than a body part, and turned the three heads toward each enemy.  Something from the center of the mass of the three necks cracked and glass shards spilled to the ground below, followed by black bile that reeked of copper.

        A beam shot forward, aiming a bolt of light for Jafar.  No hesitation.  It wasn’t going to play.  It’s mental facilities weren’t even capable of that anymore.

        The only reason the second and third head didn’t fire at Taylor and Clopin was due to it recognizing the dangerous proximity to an ally.  However, the charged and ready attack was trained on the targets, waiting for the very instant it could bring forth searing hot plasma.