but once they spot the others and come to a momentary stop, rochalizo lets go of beam's hand. sorry, beam. he looks at what sche and spike are holding.
deadpan,]
Well, I see you had a productive shopping trip.
[a beat.]
We're in Power's memories and—
[WAIT FUCK THE HUMAN PUPPET THINGS CAUGHT UP rochalizo is looking somewhat less calm now as he immediately moves to try and slash at them with his sword.]
[ Giving these two a lil tag round while I wait to slide in the merger tag for the other group. The puppet will bleed just like any human would when slashed at with a sword, but with absolutely none of the hesitation, as if it doesn't feel anything. It stumbles back, but another will come to replace it soon enough.
Beam will not stop daydreaming!! Okay well maybe he'll stop for now. He doesn't mind that his hand has been let go, since he's immediately panicking and kinda diving into the floor. Life's easy when you can just avoid everything by nullifying the concept of object collision. ]
BEAMHumans!! Don't let those dolls touch you!
[ That goes as a warning for Scheherazade and Spike, too. Dokja and Rochalizo saw what happened. ]
[ I see, Beamu is one of Those People. Lips twitch, almost looking disbelieving when the sharkman dives under instead of doing anything. Well, not like he has a weapon(?). And his warning does answer some of the questions. From what they saw, Dokja kinda figured that whatever this is- seems to spread by touch. ]
Rochalizo is right, we're within Power's memory.
[ Which is directed to the rest of their group who had been minding their own business shopping just moments earlier. Just so they are more aware of the situation. He takes a step back, ensuring there's at least some distance as he strikes at the next puppet human tumbling after the other. ]
[close combat's not really rochalizo's thing, but he does his best to fend off another as he at least tries to move in between the human puppet and spike & sche (more so sche because she's basically unarmed, but).]
[ there is a moment of sheer panic, as scheherazade doesn't know what to do. even if she were able to use her abilities to the fullest extent, she's a caster, not a class that handles close combat either. her first instinct is to reach for a scroll that isn't there, and it clicks her into the reality of her situation: she's fucked!
she wants to feel bad, not being able to mow down the dolls with the boys, but her survival instinct kicks in and that's all she cares about. survive. don't do anything stupid.
so naturally she's going back to get a dollar store knife. ]
[Spike will join Rochalizo at the front lines, blood oozing down his eye like someone's taken a sword and just barely missed cutting his eye out of his socket.]
Oh yeah? I'm familiar with the concept. We talkin' direct skin on skin contact, or does cloth count too?
[Spike looks positively giddy at the chance for real combat, not just combat they'll surely win but engagement where the stakes are death. Oh, what a bloody thrill. He grins, licking his lips and slides the pillow and lamp safely across the floor. If they get damaged, he will kill you in real life, Lowe.
He twirls his staff and starts beating them back aggressively and violently, and when they start bleeding? Even better!!! He smashes ones head in and tries to use the body as a riot shield to keep the others back. He'll gesture to Rochalizo to get behind him.]
[ Stop I would never do anything bad to the Pochita PillowTM. As for skin-on-skin or cloth contact, fuck around and find out! Roll if you're daring.
Scheherazade can find a mediocre dollar store kitchen knife!... but it's sealed in one of those cardboard-backed, semi-hard plastic containers. Hope you don't break a nail trying to open that so you can get the knife, Sche. Angel can only look flustered as Beam dives under'water' and Scheherazade goes running off, grimacing at the incoming puppets. And he decides to accompany her instead, just because the boys are three (four counting Beam), and Scheherazade is just one.
As another one falls, two more practically come to replace them, wild hands flying to grab anywhere at Rochalizo, Dokja, or Spike, hands as claws and seeking to scratch. If they can't assimilate, then death will do. ]
Not too sure, but better if we avoid everything if necessary--
[ Not unless they want to chance to be like one of these many puppets. With more numbers coming, Dokja moves more defensively, stepping further and further back as he aims to slice at anything in his way from their enemies. Whether it's an arm, hand, or a whole body flying out at them. ]
We can't fight these things off forever! [ How many are there? He tries to spy a glance for an opening or exit route, could they go to the next floor? Well, while Sche and Angel are gone they can't exactly just leave them behind, so that idea will need to be held off for now. Tsks. ]
[who is he to get in the way of spike's fun? rochalizo will move behind spike as gestured, slashing off limbs as needed.]
Beam, if you haven't turned tail and fled! [WHERE ARE YOU, SHARKMAN.] You're supposed to guard your Lord Chainsaw from these, right? You have to have some idea of what to do against them!
[ sche frantically tries to open her cheap knife, just to have some sort of insurance against those things. one of her nails does chip in the process, because there's no way she's getting out of here scot-free. she keeps glancing at the entrance of the store, as if expecting a doll to burst in at any moment.
with the knife free, she runs back out and-- towards the stairs to the third floor! seems like she was on the same wavelength as dokja. but she doesn't just hightail it up there for herself - she turns to yell at the boys: ]
[Spike thinks Beam is a little bitch but he's not complaining. When Sche announces she has a plan, he checks that rich boy's safely out of reach before doing one last sweeping attack with his now very bloody staff, hoping to cause some kind of body pileup, despite how fucking many there are apparently.
Still, he doesn't look deterred.]
Here's hopin' it's a good one, yeah?!
[Eat shit, dolls. And now he's just grabbing Rochalizo, giving him a bit of a shove for momentum's sake (decidedly not enough to knock him off balance, more just a way to announce, WE ARE RUNNING HELLO) and sprinting after Sche.]
[ Limbs are flying, corpses are happening. The ones that Spike uses as body shields don't seem to be transforming him into dolls either, so that's a plus.
Funnily enough, Beam has not actually fully abandoned them. It's just that being under the flooring is the safest place for him to be, and nothing can touch him. His head pops up from the ground, anxiously yelling. ]
BEAMI don't know, human sir!! The best ending would've been that we wouldn't run into Santa Claus's dolls at all --
[ As he says that though, a doll just like. Steps on his poor head and he sinks back into the floor from that. ...Give it a moment, though, and then something else bursts suddenly from the ground: an absolutely monstrous shark creature, taking in a mouthful of dolls in its wide maws and crunching them with ease, and then throwing them over the edge like a dog.
Angel comes running along out of the store after Scheherazade, obviously flustered. He looks extremely reluctant about this, but his halo moves to float beside his hand and he murmurs 'five years' softly to himself, pulling a sword out of it. And he swings it once, and a number of the dolls simply drop dead and unmoving without a scratch to be seen. In the same motion, he's going to point at Dokja and onwards after those who are already running, though he doesn't touch anyone or get on the shark himself. ]
ANGELGet on Beam!
[ Hi guys, did you ever dream about riding an insane shark devil like a horse? WOULD YOU LIKE TO? ]
[ Well then. Color Kim Dokja actually impressed. He almost wonders if they lost the mostly hidden shark to the step of the doll, but huh. From the sudden burst of the large shark creature with a chomp of dolls to the Angel that cuts a number of them more with a single swing. Seems like they're fortunate to have some very helpful NPCs with this adventure. ]
Well, you heard them!
[ With an opening made because of Angel, he'll take advantage to rush over to jump right onto the back of the monstrous shark and hold his hand out for the next person to approach to help up- which is likely Rochalizo. ]
Quickly now, we can't give them enough time to recover.
[ djinni yips, putting his paws on the sharkhorse-- he needs help getting up, but sche stops her mad dash and course corrects so she can do that. ]
We need to create a choke point to slow them down! If we cannot stop them, then it would be wise to at least attempt to narrow down how many can follow us at once. If we can cause them to back up on the escalator--
[ look, she wanted to lay the foundation of her plan before beam and angel upstaged everyone. although she definitely appreciates their efforts, because this is really too much when you have to think and run at the same time and can't do much else. ]
Furthermore, I can create an indestructible net, which can be used as a barrier, so long as there are enough points to attach it to. It will only last for ten minutes, but it can still buy us some more time.
[He's sweeping up his pillow and lamp and climbing aboard, just rolling his eyes like... you couldn't do this earlier??? @ Angel and Sharkboy. Sche is valid. Erastis, who was a vampire bat and was cowering away from this, flaps on over to her.]
Yep, alright! That sounds like a decent enough plan.
[He then turns to look down at the motherfucker he's currently riding on top of and lightly pokes him in the back with his stick.]
Though, I gotta ask. Why'd you only see fit to do that now?
..........Also, did you say we're in Power's fucking memories??
[ The unfortunate rule of devilhood in CSM appears to be 'really useful in fights if they choose to be, but literally the absolute worst when it comes to social eptitude in every conceivable way'.
Well! Here goes Beam and his weird Gyo-like legs scampering across the ground and up the escalator stairs to the third floor! He does not seem to mind the blood drippings at all, but if anything, his big round baby eyes turn in their sockets to look at Rochalizo while his shark snoot twitches. Is concern!! Those eyes similarly look at Spike when he's prodded instead but he says nothing.
The gap in the puppet horde's numbers that they made is notable, but nothing that they can't recover -- Dokja is right about that. If he glances below, more puppets are indeed crawling into the store, now focused on the cyoa team. Amidst them, he might spy an old and wizened man with no puppet markings, slowly walking in through the entrance, ignored by the rest.
[ Jin has taken to the skies as well, flying just above them in her white-necked raven form. Keeping up with the group as Beam moves across and up those escalators. It seems they won't be able to get any answers from the man like this so Dokja responds. ]
They've been mentioning Devils, and Beam here knows of the Blood Devil that we know. [ Power. ] So, if we're sticking with the theory that two groups are sent out every week, one into one person's memory and another group that involves the current realm back with the trials... it's a safer bet to say that we're within Power's memory.
[ With Sche's plan given, he focuses his attention on that horde below. He definitely spies that old man that seems to not exist to the puppets around. ]
We could use the net to attach to the pillars and block off the escalator exit on this floor- but there's a possibility they can just climb around it. We also don't want to trap ourselves inside a store. [ A light tap to Rochalizo's shoulder and a point, he'll direct his gaze to the old man that Dokja saw earlier on the ground floor. ] That might be our "Doll Devil."
[ Is there anything to work with on this floor that they can see? Dokja will quickly look around for anything, if not, do they need to go to the next floor? Think Kim Dokja, think. ]
If you are able to take your shot, it would be wise to do so.
[ she, too, is going to see if there's anything useful. maybe those giant decorative planters to block part of the escalators? hm. dokja is right - the dolls may be able to climb over the net. but... ]
We must do whatever we can to slow their pursuit. They can't all climb over the net at once. The two of you [ dokja, spike ] would be best suited to take care of any that may do so, at least until we see what happens when RochalÃzo shoots.
[Huh. So these are Powers... friends? Something. Whatever. He nods at Rochalizo.]
Take the shot, I'd say. If we block off the horde and force them to take the long run we can beat them back long enough to ensure that the puppet master dies, if the first shot doesn't hit that is.
I'll beat back the dolls with pleasure, should they crawl their way up the net.
[ Department stores tend to be much taller in reality, but since we're in a strange distorted memory version -- on the third floor, you can see some more stuff like clothing stores, a back room that's labeled STAFF/SECURITY, some restaurants. Pillars and planters, yes, on each corner of the vague 'rectangle' space that makes up the open area at the center of each floor. The fourth floor, which seems to be the topmost floor here, seems to be an all-out eating and relaxation area that's primarily restaurants, if the pictures and few English words on the sign next to the escalator are to be believed.
Fire with caution, you're on the third floor and it's quite far away. Beam and Angel will at least stand by the escalators and whack down a few dolls scrambling their way while you guys come up with your super plan. ]
If you have only one shot, you might want to wait until he's closer for a better opportunity.
[ It isn't a bad plan though. To see if Rochalizo can take aim against the Doll Devil. But, last they saw, he was down at the ground floor heading to the first. So, unless the teen has some sniper aim... though he won't argue if he seems confident enough. And as Spike says- if all else fails with the shot, they'll have to fight the man off themselves. ]
If we're willing to hold them off here for now then we can do that. [ He nods to Sche, assuming she wants to make use of the net here. ] Otherwise we can aim for the next floor and prepare there instead. Either way, we're gonna have fewer places to run to.
[ After all there's only so much more up they can go. Of course, Dokja is helping aid Beam and Angel with his own blade, buying the rest of the group time to add on or discuss their plans on whether they barricade here or try the next floor instead. ]
rochalizo considers his options for a few moments, before he decides to take the shot. if the man gets closer, then it's possible dokja or spike will be able to deal with him then.
aiming the gun at the man, he turns the hourglass on it, as it begins to glow. he pulls the trigger, and, well. this is a good time to specify that his gun doesn't shoot bullets! instead, it basically fires a giant energy beam.]
[ Sche, meanwhile, summons her magic net to run it across the top of the escalator. the planters would be incredible useful, but they're also incredibly heavy, and there's no way she could even help one of the boys move it in time. she has to be careful to not get got by any of the dolls clambering up, and she hands one end of the net to beam. ]
I need you to hold onto this for me.
[ She says this firmly, like, you don't get a choice buddy. if he could magically fuse the net to the pillars that'd be fantastic, but since she isn't betting on luck, this is the best she can do with only a few seconds to think about it. she can hold onto the other end, between using her staff as a sort of anchor for the bottom corner of the net. even a partial barrier should help slow down just how many dolls can get to them at once. hopefully. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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but once they spot the others and come to a momentary stop, rochalizo lets go of beam's hand. sorry, beam. he looks at what sche and spike are holding.
deadpan,]
Well, I see you had a productive shopping trip.
[a beat.]
We're in Power's memories and—
[WAIT FUCK THE HUMAN PUPPET THINGS CAUGHT UP rochalizo is looking somewhat less calm now as he immediately moves to try and slash at them with his sword.]
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Beam will not stop daydreaming!! Okay well maybe he'll stop for now. He doesn't mind that his hand has been let go, since he's immediately panicking and kinda diving into the floor. Life's easy when you can just avoid everything by nullifying the concept of object collision. ]
BEAM Humans!! Don't let those dolls touch you!
[ That goes as a warning for Scheherazade and Spike, too. Dokja and Rochalizo saw what happened. ]
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Rochalizo is right, we're within Power's memory.
[ Which is directed to the rest of their group who had been minding their own business shopping just moments earlier. Just so they are more aware of the situation. He takes a step back, ensuring there's at least some distance as he strikes at the next puppet human tumbling after the other. ]
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[close combat's not really rochalizo's thing, but he does his best to fend off another as he at least tries to move in between the human puppet and spike & sche (more so sche because she's basically unarmed, but).]
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she wants to feel bad, not being able to mow down the dolls with the boys, but her survival instinct kicks in and that's all she cares about. survive. don't do anything stupid.
so naturally she's going back to get a dollar store knife. ]
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Oh yeah? I'm familiar with the concept. We talkin' direct skin on skin contact, or does cloth count too?
[Spike looks positively giddy at the chance for real combat, not just combat they'll surely win but engagement where the stakes are death. Oh, what a bloody thrill. He grins, licking his lips and slides the pillow and lamp safely across the floor. If they get damaged, he will kill you in real life, Lowe.
He twirls his staff and starts beating them back aggressively and violently, and when they start bleeding? Even better!!! He smashes ones head in and tries to use the body as a riot shield to keep the others back. He'll gesture to Rochalizo to get behind him.]
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Scheherazade can find a mediocre dollar store kitchen knife!... but it's sealed in one of those cardboard-backed, semi-hard plastic containers. Hope you don't break a nail trying to open that so you can get the knife, Sche. Angel can only look flustered as Beam dives under'water' and Scheherazade goes running off, grimacing at the incoming puppets. And he decides to accompany her instead, just because the boys are three (four counting Beam), and Scheherazade is just one.
As another one falls, two more practically come to replace them, wild hands flying to grab anywhere at Rochalizo, Dokja, or Spike, hands as claws and seeking to scratch. If they can't assimilate, then death will do. ]
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[ Not unless they want to chance to be like one of these many puppets. With more numbers coming, Dokja moves more defensively, stepping further and further back as he aims to slice at anything in his way from their enemies. Whether it's an arm, hand, or a whole body flying out at them. ]
We can't fight these things off forever! [ How many are there? He tries to spy a glance for an opening or exit route, could they go to the next floor? Well, while Sche and Angel are gone they can't exactly just leave them behind, so that idea will need to be held off for now. Tsks. ]
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Beam, if you haven't turned tail and fled! [WHERE ARE YOU, SHARKMAN.] You're supposed to guard your Lord Chainsaw from these, right? You have to have some idea of what to do against them!
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with the knife free, she runs back out and-- towards the stairs to the third floor! seems like she was on the same wavelength as dokja. but she doesn't just hightail it up there for herself - she turns to yell at the boys: ]
Follow me, I have an idea. Hurry!
[ she's SPRINTING up those steps ]
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Still, he doesn't look deterred.]
Here's hopin' it's a good one, yeah?!
[Eat shit, dolls. And now he's just grabbing Rochalizo, giving him a bit of a shove for momentum's sake (decidedly not enough to knock him off balance, more just a way to announce, WE ARE RUNNING HELLO) and sprinting after Sche.]
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Funnily enough, Beam has not actually fully abandoned them. It's just that being under the flooring is the safest place for him to be, and nothing can touch him. His head pops up from the ground, anxiously yelling. ]
BEAM I don't know, human sir!! The best ending would've been that we wouldn't run into Santa Claus's dolls at all --
[ As he says that though, a doll just like. Steps on his poor head and he sinks back into the floor from that. ...Give it a moment, though, and then something else bursts suddenly from the ground: an absolutely monstrous shark creature, taking in a mouthful of dolls in its wide maws and crunching them with ease, and then throwing them over the edge like a dog.
Angel comes running along out of the store after Scheherazade, obviously flustered. He looks extremely reluctant about this, but his halo moves to float beside his hand and he murmurs 'five years' softly to himself, pulling a sword out of it. And he swings it once, and a number of the dolls simply drop dead and unmoving without a scratch to be seen. In the same motion, he's going to point at Dokja and onwards after those who are already running, though he doesn't touch anyone or get on the shark himself. ]
ANGEL Get on Beam!
[ Hi guys, did you ever dream about riding an insane shark devil like a horse? WOULD YOU LIKE TO? ]
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Well, you heard them!
[ With an opening made because of Angel, he'll take advantage to rush over to jump right onto the back of the monstrous shark and hold his hand out for the next person to approach to help up- which is likely Rochalizo. ]
Quickly now, we can't give them enough time to recover.
[ baby shark do do dododo. ]
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he'll let dokja help him onto beam, before turning to help the next person; whoever's left after dokja presumably pulls up another.]
Remember your daemons!
[his own is flying above his head, in bird form.
also he's dripping blood onto beam, sorry about that]
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We need to create a choke point to slow them down! If we cannot stop them, then it would be wise to at least attempt to narrow down how many can follow us at once. If we can cause them to back up on the escalator--
[ look, she wanted to lay the foundation of her plan before beam and angel upstaged everyone. although she definitely appreciates their efforts, because this is really too much when you have to think and run at the same time and can't do much else. ]
Furthermore, I can create an indestructible net, which can be used as a barrier, so long as there are enough points to attach it to. It will only last for ten minutes, but it can still buy us some more time.
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Yep, alright! That sounds like a decent enough plan.
[He then turns to look down at the motherfucker he's currently riding on top of and lightly pokes him in the back with his stick.]
Though, I gotta ask. Why'd you only see fit to do that now?
..........Also, did you say we're in Power's fucking memories??
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Well! Here goes Beam and his weird Gyo-like legs scampering across the ground and up the escalator stairs to the third floor! He does not seem to mind the blood drippings at all, but if anything, his big round baby eyes turn in their sockets to look at Rochalizo while his shark snoot twitches. Is concern!! Those eyes similarly look at Spike when he's prodded instead but he says nothing.
The gap in the puppet horde's numbers that they made is notable, but nothing that they can't recover -- Dokja is right about that. If he glances below, more puppets are indeed crawling into the store, now focused on the cyoa team. Amidst them, he might spy an old and wizened man with no puppet markings, slowly walking in through the entrance, ignored by the rest.
What're you looking for up here? ]
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They've been mentioning Devils, and Beam here knows of the Blood Devil that we know. [ Power. ] So, if we're sticking with the theory that two groups are sent out every week, one into one person's memory and another group that involves the current realm back with the trials... it's a safer bet to say that we're within Power's memory.
[ With Sche's plan given, he focuses his attention on that horde below. He definitely spies that old man that seems to not exist to the puppets around. ]
We could use the net to attach to the pillars and block off the escalator exit on this floor- but there's a possibility they can just climb around it. We also don't want to trap ourselves inside a store. [ A light tap to Rochalizo's shoulder and a point, he'll direct his gaze to the old man that Dokja saw earlier on the ground floor. ] That might be our "Doll Devil."
[ Is there anything to work with on this floor that they can see? Dokja will quickly look around for anything, if not, do they need to go to the next floor? Think Kim Dokja, think. ]
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to dokja, he nods, before pulling out his gun. he'll leave searching their surroundings to the others, as he keeps his eyes trained on the old man.]
I only have one shot before I need to request a recharge, but if now would be a good use...
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[ she, too, is going to see if there's anything useful. maybe those giant decorative planters to block part of the escalators? hm. dokja is right - the dolls may be able to climb over the net. but... ]
We must do whatever we can to slow their pursuit. They can't all climb over the net at once. The two of you [ dokja, spike ] would be best suited to take care of any that may do so, at least until we see what happens when RochalÃzo shoots.
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Take the shot, I'd say. If we block off the horde and force them to take the long run we can beat them back long enough to ensure that the puppet master dies, if the first shot doesn't hit that is.
I'll beat back the dolls with pleasure, should they crawl their way up the net.
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Fire with caution, you're on the third floor and it's quite far away. Beam and Angel will at least stand by the escalators and whack down a few dolls scrambling their way while you guys come up with your super plan. ]
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[ It isn't a bad plan though. To see if Rochalizo can take aim against the Doll Devil. But, last they saw, he was down at the ground floor heading to the first. So, unless the teen has some sniper aim... though he won't argue if he seems confident enough. And as Spike says- if all else fails with the shot, they'll have to fight the man off themselves. ]
If we're willing to hold them off here for now then we can do that. [ He nods to Sche, assuming she wants to make use of the net here. ] Otherwise we can aim for the next floor and prepare there instead. Either way, we're gonna have fewer places to run to.
[ After all there's only so much more up they can go. Of course, Dokja is helping aid Beam and Angel with his own blade, buying the rest of the group time to add on or discuss their plans on whether they barricade here or try the next floor instead. ]
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rochalizo considers his options for a few moments, before he decides to take the shot. if the man gets closer, then it's possible dokja or spike will be able to deal with him then.
aiming the gun at the man, he turns the hourglass on it, as it begins to glow. he pulls the trigger, and, well. this is a good time to specify that his gun doesn't shoot bullets! instead, it basically fires a giant energy beam.]
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I need you to hold onto this for me.
[ She says this firmly, like, you don't get a choice buddy. if he could magically fuse the net to the pillars that'd be fantastic, but since she isn't betting on luck, this is the best she can do with only a few seconds to think about it. she can hold onto the other end, between using her staff as a sort of anchor for the bottom corner of the net. even a partial barrier should help slow down just how many dolls can get to them at once. hopefully. ]
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