If a tree fell down in the forest, I’d make sure you’d hear it (Open)

"Bookshop? Strange vocation for a dude that can set stuff on fire." She was pondering how that worked out as she absent-mindedly lunged under a whipping vine, throwing herself into a quick baseball slide, before springing back to her feet and moved towards the druids again, with all the unrestrained joy she could muster. "But I will admit! Haven't had this much fun in a week! Not since that time Sparacello tried to wage a war on me n the boys."

Oh that took her into a happy place for a moment as she giggled to herself, mid-vault over a low swinging tree trunk. And haymakered the second, slightly higher one into splinters."Geeze this is getting kinda stupid, innit?" Then her jaw kind of clenched as she listened to what he was saying. Shifting it left and right as she skipped to the left, avoiding a series of vines that punched through the topsoil where she stood seconds ago. "Alright, you got my attention on the quid pro quo. Spill."

Not only did he bring this kinda sit down and discuss stuff into the equation. More bullshit to keep track of. Fantastic. But he had to do it, right in the middle of a fight. A downshift in her attitude. She was annoyed, but. She exhaled, saw the druids in sight and inhaled. I can deal with that, at a later point..

But now was time for the fwoosh-fwoosh! And oh boy did she like the sounds of that. "Kinda wish I still had my old ass, honestly. But this one's fire proof more or less. Sooooo. Light that fire!" She caught the glimmer in the corner of her eye, ignored the druids for the much more fun, much more fantastic and incredibly useful. Fwoosh.

Which also seemed to be getting smaller as it got closer. "Don't look at me, I gotta be in direct contact with heat. Either directly on fire, or, hell, the sahara desert during a heatwave. I dunno. I just gotta be someplace warm. And the warmer I get, the more joy and love and absolute hell, I can bring." But screw it, any longer and that's gonna sputter out and she won't even get a seconds worth of heat. So, she just full-tilt leaped face first into it.

"Okay. Magic sword. Got it. I also hate it. Don't know why, though." Her voice trailed off as she wallowed in the flames, practically bathed in it for as long as she could. At least, hopefully, until she felt toasty. Which, if he can bring the heat as he so claims. Should be right about...now. Panzer brought her left arm up. The limb seemed to click rhythmically, a soft little tktktktk, followed by a much more obvious and ominous hum. "I rarely get to use the pepster on maximum. Kinda bad for business. Great for crackin bank vaults, though!"  

And with that, a fist sized pulse lanced out from her palm, searing several vines to ash, before impacting a large tree, the beam ablating several layers of tree, converting it into, well, on a normal target it'd be a small amount. Which would mean, small blast wave designed to incapacitate. No one ever thought to ask, what happens if you put it to 10? Well, as Panzer watched in awe as the tree exploded in a small burst of intense heat and light, spraying flaming toothpicks everywhere. That's what happens. Things tend to explode. "God Damn! Do I love me some pep!"

The closer Inferno actualy got to the mayhem, the more fire that went out not with a fizzle- they just... seemed to die as if oxygen had been taken away- but that's not how his fire suppression worked regardess. He couldn't do anything about the heat the flames made, and that was making it real difficult to sense anyting out of the ordinary. It was like... sorta like... being under water and feeling ripples move around you. As he got too close, he wasn't spared from the attention of mother nature- and was clocked in the back of the head by a... tree? Inferno without thinking simply retaliated by regaining his footing, spinning on his heel, and.... sending a gout of flame in the direction that the attack came from before realizing that it had been a tree. "That the best you got? Throwing wood at me?" Inferno bellowed as he finally arrived... and saw a giant tee man appear... and then promptly get falcon punched.

"OI! I didn't come all this way to miss out! Make room Lead Legs!" Inferno bellowed again, whipping up or bringing any still lit flames over to him as he kicked off, released a jet of fire to propel himself even faster... and falcon punched the lower half of the giant tree monster- complete with fiery explosion! Meanwhile, the fire copter from earlier saw the... giant tree monster and was going to hang back before they made their pass to carpet the area.

Emblem had to admit, that Panzer….she could. You know? She was able to take his fireball and just maul some stuff with it. He wondered what she could do if given even more. Within seconds however, another flame has joined the blazing chorus.

‘A librarian who sets stuff on fire needs to learn restraint. Something that seems to be undervalued at this very moment.’

The devil’s bookkeep didn’t like a prolonged fight. Apparently, there was enough heat here to attract more and more moths. Urging his mask to find the source, he knew he would find whoever was animating these woods soon enough. He just needed enough time… and maybe a bit of luck.

As his mask kept scanning and scanning for magical energies, Emblem moved to Panzer and Inferno. While he wasn’t at all convinced the lumbering one saw the art in the craft he knew that if he aided them this problem was settled quicker. Jumping nimbly tot he side as vines whipped at him. Emblem noticed it was getting a lot harder to deal with this Druid. He wasn’t on the offensive anymore.

‘Round two, Punch Out Peeress? I'm betting my coins on you this time.'

Stomping his foot on the ground, two pillars of flame materialized in front of Panzer and Inferno. Either they would step in and receive the dealer of death’s exquisite blessing of fire and heat, or the beams would shoot up enough to scorch some vines. He had no idea why this seemed to work again, but that was a thought for later. It was impossible to research when there was a lumbering wooden giant in front of you.

The pyromancer supreme also decided it was time to turn up the heat for the metal fisted madam. As he focussed on breath, Emblem invoked Charon’s Toll. Slowly but surely, the air around him would heat up more and more. While more effective indoors at wearing opponents down, it would definitely aid those who use heat…and dry that damnable giant. It did mean that for now, he was not going to be able to do much more. He swore he could already hear the boatsman's bells toll...

Emblem wondered how fast he could get the wood to crack. And he hoped he would find the source of this irritable Ent soon. Until then, he couldn't properly move without cancelling the Toll's effect. Even a spellcaster as strong as him couldn't heat up the whole outdoors like that.

The female with the demonic arm approached the Heir and blocked her path to Charlotte, who was aiding the boy in evacuating the children. She spoke of true enemies and used her tongue as a poised weapon to accuse the Heir of being in league with the tree druid. "You dare accuse myself of aiding the unnatural?! For that offense alone I should part your head from your shoulders but I am unsure if that abomination on your person is controlling your words." The Heir was visibly frustrated. Too much negotiation had already taken place for Excalibur's liking. It was a weapon, not a diplomat. If Rico had approached in any other form than this, Excalibur's would've attacked without further warning. "Cease your prattling child! I decide which of you monsters is the more viable threat," The Heir seethed as she spoke - her hate for Ricco and Charlotte was so clear you could almost taste the malice. She tightened her grip on her broadsword while leering at Rico's arm. Maybe if she lopped that off this young girl would speak some sense?

Then the boy with the eye patch finally spoke up and the sky began to thunder. "What sorcery is this?" Excalibur's Heir said while looking about bewildered. Then Excalibur's true target revealed itself in a horrendous manner. The bewitched trees in the forest had started to merge into a singular creature that roared out, almost as if calling to Excalibur for it's destruction. "It would seem a larger threat has reared it's head after all." Excalibur's Heir was giddy as she turned her back to Rico, Adrien, Charlotte and the children. "Since your words have rung true, for now I will spare you all. Watch the way you speak to me in our next meeting filth." The Heir certainly didn't lack confidence.

The Heir briefly paused to take in the swell of emotion for the oncoming battle and then charged at the large tree monster with both hands on her sword. "HAVE AT THEE BEAST!" The Heir charged the tree creature while roaring a warrior's cry the entire time - the Heir made a beeline for the monster's center. Any wooden or vine like objects in her path were sliced clean in half with one swift strike of the blade each time. Her footwork was impeccable. Her blade motions wasted no energy. The Heir even performed a few nimble evasive and acrobatic maneuvers to avoid being snared by roots that had reached out from the ground to capture the stead fast approaching swordswoman. Finally, after cleaving through a few more vines and smaller trees, the Heir reached the main entity and paused briefly as the Ent like being raised the equivalent of it's fist, which actually just appeared to be an amalgam of four or five trees clumped together. "ENGUARDE MONSTER!"


“SACRIFICES” The tree creature howled out as it slammed down its fist like appendage to clobber the Heir. Excalibur's Heir closed her eyes briefly and took a firm back stance then looked up as the legendary sword began to glow again with a golden hue once again. The brightness of the holy weapon's brilliance illuminated the area briefly. Then just as the cluster of trees would have made contact with the Heir, the white haired female swung Excalibur forward and severed through every single tree within the giant fist all at once and in their entirety!

The conglomerate tree trunks were severed cleanly and with such speed and preciseness that the cut itself wouldn't even be visible to those who weren't staring directly at the strike. To one who peered at the interaction just at a glance it seemed as if the sword had just glided through the multitude of bark like it was a holographic image. But in reality it had been that perfect a cut! A mere moment after the Heir swung her blade the entire of tree trunk fist separated from the rest of the limb and flew overhead the Heir of Excalibur's head, continuing with the original momentum, and catapulted towards the teens standing at the portal. The Heir could have slightly altered the way she had severed the creature's appendage as not to injure those behind her but with the children nearly all through the portal she could care less what happened to the other monsters standing by.

Rico came to the defense, getting in between Charlotte and the sword wielding vigilante. It was probably for the best, as Charlotte wasn't equipped to go toe to toe with someone in direct combat on short notice. Especially not in this form. Yet the swordswoman still only seemed interested in stirring conflict with one of them, completely ignoring the attacking trees so far. How completely unhelpful!

It got even worse as the waste of time gave the forest an opportunity to come back even stronger. When the giant treant-thing rose from the ground, Charlotte turned her head away from the portal and could even see the towering beast in the distance. Oh crap, that was a major problem. As the heroes responded and splinters flew, Charlotte started to sweat with nerves as she looked back into the portal and watched the mess of fire and wood chips being thrown around inside there. She was afraid that something would end of flying through the portal and taking out someone's eye, but instead she got an object so large that it wouldn't fit through the portal.

Due to the mess of combat, it appeared that a giant mass of around 4 combined trees was now falling quickly towards the portal and anyone standing next to it. It wasn't going to fit through and would shatter the spatial distortion like a stick poking a bubble. This meant nobody who already made it through would be hurt, but anyone standing next to it had precious little time to react. Go through, dash away, or get smashed under a massive log.

Rico looked over to Adrien when he clarified that the druid-like figure wasn't controlling the trees and their surroundings; rather that something was controlling the growth and the druid as well. She blinked as he said that the true culprit was somewhere else, but out of range. What range? What ability did they have? It was clearly sensory if they couldn't detect them with whatever it was.

Rico didn't seem fazed at all by Excalibur's threats and overreaction. Maybe she should be, but time would tell. Whether that was another day or in the next few seconds remained to be seen. "Check yourself, sweetheart. I didn't accuse you of anything. I said if you attack us, you'll be helping the forest thing out. You can take that out of proportion if you want. When all a man has is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, hm?" she said, glancing to the brute's sword. She met Excalibur's gaze again, unafraid, as she called her a monster right along with the trees rising up. She was talking of making the decision of who was the larger threat. "That does seem like a tough decision, dear. Just let me know when you're finished playing with your crayons."

Finally, Excalibur seemed to be taking a hint and walking away, but she was trying to get the last word in. Rico wasn't having it. "Understood, your majesty! I'll make sure to use words with two syllables next time!" She grinned, and looked back to Adrien and Charlotte. "Sorry about that. Some people are just so rude." She turned her gaze to Adrien. "You said they're out of range. Once we get all the kids through here, do you think we might be able to find the controller with your abilities?" She looked at Charlotte again. "And thank you so much again, you're doing great!" she said encouragingly.

When the wood came crashing down from Excalibur's attack, a large arm that mirrored the demon arm Rico had appeared and brushed it aside so that it wouldn't hit Rico, Adrien, or Charlotte's portal in a very casual manner, before her raised arm and the projected one raised its middle finger to Excalibur and the tree beast she was fighting. Any remaining trees or vines that went to attack them or other kids escaping through the portal would be grabbed and uprooted, before being thrown out of the immediate area or smashed into pieces on the ground.

Adrien couldn’t care less about the banter nor whatever was going on with these accusations and threats, they should all be focusing on the same enemy right? Right?! At least that’s what he hoped, having to deal with one of them also trying to turn one of them into a sacrifice would be hella annoying. Not saying the situation at hand wasn’t already. When the white haired swordsman turned her attention onto the giant beast of wood Adrien was a bit relieved. As she darted towards it, Adrien crouched, ready to join in by attacking its roots, but before he could do anything a giant mass of wood and vines came hurdling in their direction, he stumbled backwards and lifted his arms, not really sure if he could even deflect it. But before he could manipulate the sound waves, it had been swept to the side by a massive arm. The lack of limb didn’t seem to bother the giant much as it stayed on the attack, it’s other arm swinging to try and capture its attacker.

The question however was still out there, what had brought the forest to life, why did it require a sacrifice. Well on that note it was a good thing most of the kids had been teleported out, but wether they were out of harms way was still too early to tell.  Had they been teleported far enough away? Especially from a beast this gargantuan.

“H-Help!!!” Adrien looked around for the source of the screams, It was one of the girls from the group, how the heck had she been missed? And the answer was she had been taking refuge behind some boulders, but now her hiding spot had been revealed as some of Panzer’s pep had caused one of the boulders to topple and crumble under the intense burst. The roots had a hold of her legs, and what was worse is she was farther away from any of the parties here currently trying to fight and help.
“#%$@!” Adrien tried to run in her direction only to trip as a vine wrapped around his ankle. He looked up at the girl in time to see her be pulled under, disappearing into the earth. He then turned his attention back to trying to trying to free himself. He was about to reach down and blast the vine, but before he even got the chance, a root came up and wrapped itself around his wrist. Adrien himself was beginning to be pulled under as well, as the earth opened up like a sinkhole as if he were a seed that needed to be planted. “...dammit!”

"Punch out peeress. An Almost Alliterative Assessment. I like it." She giggled to herself, finding it funny, even if no one else did. But round two was indeed on the way and she paused mid-step, when the pillar of flame leaped from the ground. She took in the sight of it shooting up like a raging signal flare from the fieriest depths of hell with a bit of awe and perhaps a few tears. If she had tears to shed. Note to self: Get tearducts installed. This is kind of annoying that I can't shed a tear at the majesty of this pyrotechnical maelstrom.

Before stepping in with a shrug. "Anyway." And basked in the glory, the roar of superheated air. Did a little twirl, giggling all the while she bathed in the fire. Then the giggle turned into a cackle as she leaped from the flames several moments earlier, glowing a faint crimson red. "This is better'n smellin salts! Could keep me goin all week nonstop, 24/7. Coke ain't dope when you're me."

The hum picked up again, a faint thrumming keen that slowly built in pitch and intensity. "But that'd be a waste of all that energy. Especially when I could use that for some wholesale hedge trimming instead!" As she brought her left hand up, gave the giant tree a little wave. "Smile for the camera pal!" Before firing off several incandescently green bolts of energy that sheared and burned holes through limbs, ablating layers of bark and fibrous wood into a sufficient little explosion of plasma at the end of the bolts path, setting fire to quite a bit of wood in the process. "Can't go wrong with some pep in your step."

This giant piece of brocoli wasn't doen yet? AFTER he hit it? What madness was this? He wasn't leaving out what Lead Legs did or anything, but the fact it had been able to apparently throw a punch at other peope and was blatantly ignoring both of them.... made him quite annoyed as some dude in a mask started blabbing. He made fire happen though, and Inferno instantly liked him better- he was too busy being pissed at the tree to pay attention to the exchange between Excalibur and Rico. "Thanks for the pick me up dude~" Inferno chuckled, willing one of the pillars to engulf him immediately- and with a mental jump start, the flames around him suddenly turneed blue and shot up in temperature. "PAY ATTENTION TO ME YOU LORD OF RINGS LOOKING ASS PIECE OF BROCOLI!" Inferno swore, and repeated his last attack, diving into the flames of Panzer's last attack and... making the flames turn blue.

If it wasn't going down still, Inferno would've grabbed a hold of something, and start to tear into it while literally everything around him was on fire- good thing he had a firefighter mask on, oxygen and smoke would've been a big problem otherwise. But he was determined to down this thing one way or the other- and was that a girl scream he just heard? EVEN MORE REASON TO BURN THIS THING TO THE GROUND!