15[20:15] <VoxPVoxD> The Mask's frozen-steel smile faces down at Xia Lan. He's hunched low, as one might be when they're trying to persuade a child to give up something they've decided is a toy without breaking it. The chill of his last words still crawls up her spine. Give it to me.
[20:19] <@Ferrinus> 12Back at the edge of the city, Keldar's hackles are raised. "You said the what is where?! Get us there now!" 12He's looking between Xu Sim and the Emissary, expecting that at least one can whip up a whirlwind or portal toot-sweet.
[20:20] <trenchfoot> 13She stares up at the Mask, then glances fearfully over to Tsuka, and pats the Eye in her pocket. She can't find any words that seem to matter.
[20:21] <Crion_> 14Stranger, to Balor: "Go on ahead!"
[20:21] <Crion_> 14We're not going to ride the creature's back. Xu Sim should have the proper spell.
[20:23] <mattbaby> 5Xu Sim looks incredulously at Keldar. "You mean that isn't what you wanted?" 5he snarks as he twirls about to summon his dust devil. "Maybe you should have thought ahead?"
[20:24] <Crion_> 14Stranger, to both of them, and a little to himself: "Later."
[20:24] <mattbaby> "If there is a later," 5Xu Sim not-so-graciously concedes.
[20:24] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "Tsuka was supposed to watch the thing, not walk it back in there -- I'm giving those kids a talking-to!"
[20:25] <Crion_> 14With a bit more of a snarl: "Sorcerer, sorcell!" 
15[20:25] <VoxPVoxD> The air around the Emissary ripples and pulses and he hurtles off chest sticking out at a hideous angle as if a great hook was looped around his torso and pulling him towards Nexus at top speed. Dirt and dust kick up behind him as he goes.
[20:26] <mattbaby> "A beast of burden!" 5whines the greatest physician in the East as the spell is completed, the dustdevil kicks off the ground, and the three Chosen of the Sun speed off alongisde the Emissary.
15[20:26] <VoxPVoxD> Tsuka pushes past Xia Lan and stares up at the Mask, eyes flashing. One arm remains in a sling, but the other has drawn a sword. "Back off! Abomination! You touch her and I'll kill you myself!"
[20:27] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan: "Tsuka, don't--"
[20:35] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan stops shivering. An eerie calm comes over her, the tranquility coming from some part of her she hasn't felt in a while. She can't do this. Won't do this. Not to the people of Nexus, not to her friends, and not to the Sun. Even if - Her voice is smooth and even. "No."
15[20:37] <VoxPVoxD> The Mask looks exactly the same, doesn't move an ilm, but his voice is scandalized. Jai, as he approaches from behind, hears him clearly as well. "What's this? Don't you care about your city? Don't you want to win?"
[20:39] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan: "Of course I care about Nexus. Which is why I can't give it up. Not here. Not to you." 13Her voice starts shaking as she goes on, but she hasn't backed down.
[20:39] <cbass> 10This is baaaad. Real bad. Drastic action is gonna be required. 
15[20:39] <VoxPVoxD> Tsuka: "You don't care about Nexus! You just want power. You just want to kill everything!"
15[20:41] <VoxPVoxD> The Mask laughs his awful gasping laugh. "What has the harvest to hope for but the care of the reaper?"
[20:43] <cbass> 10Xia Lan might just be able to see Jai moving in to flank the, gods and powers of Creation, he's going to rob a 10Deathlord10—
[20:45] <mattbaby> 5Xu Sim furrows his brow as the Emissary begins to pull away. The whipping, howling whirlwind overcomes whatever sounds his mouth is making, but a lip-reader might be slightly scandalized, especially if she had any relations to Nexus, Raksha, mercenaries, diplomats, apes, worms, or makers of masks.
[21:13] <Crion_> 14Stranger, over the Codex: <To Xia Lan and whomever this might apply, Balor is coming for his Eye and he's at speed. Give it to him. He's Emissary again.>
[21:13] <Crion_> <Let them fight.>
[21:15] <cbass> Jai knows the jig is up the moment the Mask's back straightens. He was never gonna get around this totally clean, but— Maybe there's a chance.
[21:18] <cbass> 10With a little running start… Jai takes off at a sprint, swerving as if to round the Mask. At the last moment he goes down on two knees and slides under the Deathlord's clutching grip, rolling and coming up again in front of Xia Lan and Tsuka.
[21:20] <cbass> "Give me the thing!" 10He doesn't even know what it is. "I'm fresh—he can chase me around all day!" 10It's only half a lie. 
[21:20] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan: <Noted get him here fast please thank you hurry> 13And then to Jai: "He's - shit!"
[21:21] <Crion_> 14Stranger: <You might hear him before you see him. He's moving quickly.>
[21:21] <cbass> 10He's off again. In a chase like this, it's all about momentum. "Throw it!"
[21:21] <mattbaby> 5Xu Sim: <Last time Balor got really pissed off he almost flattened everything in Firewander ->
15[21:27] <VoxPVoxD> The ground opens up beneath Xia Lan, and she narrowly leaps away from the huge bony hand that rises to clutch at her and fix her in place. The Mask wheeze-laughs again, and finally draws himself to his full height. A cascade of pops and snaps fills the empty street as all of his joints reverse and his head rotates 180 degrees so that a steel grimace of hideous despair looks down at 
15[21:27] <VoxPVoxD> them all.
15[21:27] <VoxPVoxD> "This isn't funny anymore."
15[21:46] <VoxPVoxD> He strides forward and grabs Xia Lan by the throat with an icy mailed hand. She can't breathe, but there's no tightness or urgency in her chest -- in his hands, she doesn't need to.
[21:46] <trenchfoot> 13No - no
[21:47] <cbass> 10Jai shoots a glance back. Shit. 
15[21:48] <VoxPVoxD> With the other hand he gingerly plucks the lurid Eye from Xia Lan's struggling grip. He clucks his tongue. "Tch, tch. I hope all that trouble was worth it."
[21:50] <trenchfoot> 13She just slumps. No. It wasn't.
[22:08] <cbass> 10Jai wheels around. No way. It's not going to end like this! His borrowed daiklaive materializes in his hand, warm like the faint promise of embers. The sword isn't his preferred weapon, but it's the one closest to hand, which makes it the best one. He lifts it in a stance he instinctively feels is right, and charges at the Mask of Winters, intending to knock the orb from his hand. 
[22:09] <cbass> 10He's a thousand years too early. Ten thousand.
15[22:10] <VoxPVoxD> The Mask, the Eye, and Xia Lan dissolve into shadows that flap on the wind like shredded cloth, coalescing several yalms away.
[22:12] <trenchfoot> 13She's momentarily startled, nearly vomits, and then begins to the long process of striking at the hand grasping her until she can - cut it off? Force the Mask to drop her? She's not left with many options.
15[22:14] <VoxPVoxD> Tsuka charges forward, flames streaking in his wake as he comes in for a low slash that clangs uselessly off of whatever's covering the Mask's legs underneath his tattered cloak.
15[22:14] <VoxPVoxD> "LET HER GO!"
15[22:19] <VoxPVoxD> Another voice cuts through the air. "LET IT GO!"
[22:19] <cbass> "Bastard! Don't you have enough power—you have to waylay a sick wo—?!" 10Something's coming.
15[22:31] <VoxPVoxD> There's an awful crack, and suddenly Xia Lan is staggering behind Jai and the Mask of Winters holds the Emissary by the throat. "Every citizen of Nexus is free to use violence to uphold their property rights. Desist for your own safety," he says, in the cold, clear voice someone might have associated with the Emissary before he went mad. Then there's a faint hum, and the Mask staggers. 
15[22:31] <VoxPVoxD> Tsuka doubles over, vomiting blood.
[22:31] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan: "Wh- TSUKA!"
[22:34] <cbass> "Miss Xia Lan," 10Jai says in a far-too-calm voice. "You should run. I couldn't get the orb away from him but maybe I can rescue your friend." 10He's pushing the fear down. 
[22:44] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan watches as Tsuka drags himself away from the brawl. "No. No, we're going together - stay safe, and stay away from whatever the hells that was --" 13She grabs Tsuka, props his arm over her shoulders, and they flee.
[22:44] <cbass> "Yeah, all right. I'll cover the both of you—"
[22:53] <mattbaby> 5Upon the howling gale, Xu Sim, Keldar and Stranger-Visits-Heaven arrive. Xu Sim peers down scornfully at the fracas from his spot atop the stormcloud as ashes, debris, and dust fly through the air.
[22:56] <Crion_> 14Stranger jumps when the time is right. As a famous man once said:
[22:56] <Crion_> 14Time to die.
[22:56] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's gritting his teeth, raising his shield and drawing his daiklave back. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck - MASK! DROP IT AND STAND DOWN!"
[22:57] <Crion_> 14Since the wind's so high: <Let's save the yelling for when the yelling matters.>
[22:58] <cbass> 10Jai: "Here comes the cavalry. We should keep falling back until we can get him someplace safe." 
[22:58] <Crion_> <If Mask gets the upper hand on Balor I'm going to put as much Essence into the Sol Ring as possible and see what happens. I'd suggest everyone else get clear. Very clear.>
[22:58] <@Ferrinus> 12In Keldar's current state, it's hard to really hear or pay attention to anything he's saying unless he's already got his sword to your throat, but the proper niceties must be observed.
[22:58] <cbass> "…or, we just keep falling back."
[22:58] <Crion_> 14He already knows Keldar won't, and even given everything else, it's impossible not to respect that. They're to it to the end, somehow. Together. Perhaps there have been stranger things.
[22:59] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan, muttering worriedly: "Why didn't I learn medicine, why didn't I study any..." 13She glances over Jai's way and offers a tight nod.
[23:00] <mattbaby> 5 Xu Sim's dust devil swoops over the battlefield, giving the riders a chance to leap off into the melee if they are so inclined.
[23:05] <Crion_> 14Stranger lands by hooking his parasol around a helpful tree limb, then gracefully falling the rest of the way. It's strange, he thinks, walking to what's certainly your own death, and planning to cage it.
[23:08] <cbass> 10Jai: "He'll be okay. Just let me handle any more foolish charges, OK?" 10A nervous laugh.
[23:11] <Crion_> 14Jai already has two, but Stranger doesn't say that.
[23:11] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan: "I don't plan on making any, and neither does Tsuka. Right?" 13She glares at her boyfriend with as much anger as she can muster at him in this state. So, not much.
15[23:12] <VoxPVoxD> Tsuka just groans.
[23:14] <cbass> :That's the spirit."
[23:17] <Crion_> 14He walks straight up to the two outsiders wrestling for control of that fucking orb and snaps his fingers again.
[23:18] <Crion_> 14All around them, time stops. But it's still fight night in here.
15[23:22] <VoxPVoxD> From Jai, Tsuka, and Xia Lan's perspective, the dome falls and everyone within is frozen. From everyone else's, the sight of Xia Lan dragging Tsuka away as Jai stands sword at the ready is locked in place.
15[23:22] <VoxPVoxD> whoops scratch that last part
15[23:22] <VoxPVoxD> and the second word
[23:22] <Crion_> 14Instead of addressing the gladiators, he calls out behind him: "Glad you could join us."
[23:23] <Crion_> 14He doesn't say to whom, and doesn't have to.
[23:23] <cbass> 10Jai takes a look back at the fracas, then turns around again to say something else. And a wall of light materializes in front of his face.
[23:23] <Crion_> 14Then to Balor, Emissary of Nexus: "I can hold this for a time. Go to."
[23:23] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan freezes for a moment, looks back at the dome, and sighs. "Let's get you to the healers. Nothing else we can do, now."
15[23:27] <VoxPVoxD> Tsuka, weakly: "Supposed to fight. Supposed to be a soldier."
[23:28] <cbass> 10Jai: "Two of them and four of us. Well, better odds than before." 10He sweeps his hair back. "I was just thinking I needed a little more sword practice."
[23:31] <trenchfoot> 13Xia Lan: "And you did. You are. This just -" 13She sighs. "This is my fault. And anyway, they've sealed themselves away, there's nothing we can do now but lick our wounds."
[23:31] <mattbaby> 5Xu Sim sits, lotus-style, on a whirling cyclone a foot off the ground. He has a contemplative look on his face as he looks into the scrum. Just one wobble, a bounce, and the war's end is within his grasp...
[23:36] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar leaps from the Stormwind Rider, trailing burning orange-red essence behind him, and lands straight on the Mask's back with sword and shield plunging down. It's a perfect hit... too perfect. It looks like the blade's just gone straight down through the collar of the Mask's armor to touch nothing at all in the hollows of his breastplate, presumably sliding smoothly between two 
[23:36] <@Ferrinus> 12ribs or something. Shocked, Keldar withdraws the blade in the form of a grand daiklave and brings it around only to have it stop dead against the palm of an upraised gauntlet.
15[00:01] <VoxPVoxD> The Mask starts laughing his horrible laugh. The Eye glows brighter and brither.
[00:01] <Crion_> 14Stranger sighs.
15[00:02] <VoxPVoxD> "You worse than senseless things. Now nothing will save you."
15[00:02] <VoxPVoxD> The Eye emits a beam of horrible power, lancing everything it touches and melting it down.
[00:02] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's dimly visible raising his daiklave against the red annihilation before he's eclipsed by the energy entirely.
[00:17] <cbass> 10Jai begins one last charge at the Mask, in an imitation of Tsuka's stance. But instead of striking low, he leaps and strikes from above— a glancing blow. Is it enough to turn the tide? He's staring down the Eye itself now.
15[00:18] <VoxPVoxD> Within the world Stranger has created, there is only the crash of metal on stone and the gentle bubbling of slag. Outside, Xia Lan and Tsuka can hear a war cry and the thunder of Lookshyan guns.
15[00:18] <VoxPVoxD> NEXT TIME: If you want to dance