Caz looked back to the koala with a more than a little concerned look in her eyes, glancing from her, to the battle royal, then back to her, then back to the fight, and then once more back to her, her brows furrowing more and more with every swivel. "Aaaaaahh... Iiiiiiiiii, eeeeuuhhh..."

Things were not looking terribly positive, it seemed.

"W'll d'you have a weapon, or--" But she froze. Slowly but surely, her mouth stretched like she'd just remembered she'd left the oven on, but something else hit her. Something much more helpful (and relevant) to the situation. "Hold on!" she stammered, and plucked out the radio at her side, pressing her finger against the talk button. "Ace, are you okay out there?"

...

...

"Juuuust peachy!"

It took a second, but the answer came, followed by two gunshots and a lot of static.

"Listen, Key, the koala girl is gonna head up the elevator and she needs to get through! Can you cover her?!"

And after roughly long enough for somebody to swear to themselves, he answered: "I'll do what I can! Let 'er through!"

With much relief in that her boyfriend was still alive, and she was making herself useful, she looked back up to Key with a smile and a flash of a thumbs up. "I think you're good!"

Immediately after, a small sort of inferno seemed to envelop the area in a colorful blaze of fire, casting a rainbow of shadows off the side of Caz's face.

"...You might wanna hurry, though."

OOC: Collab with Rachel-san

Things where happening quickly and yet more people where arriving to join their mob. She was almost inspired by the number of people drawn to do their civic duty and stop seven from ending the world or on the smaller scale the city. But she was too wise for that, there where too many ulterior motives in the group and Seven was just enough of a pain in the ass to inspire great acts of violence even without him stealing emeralds.

Jack watched as the monkeys and hedgehog separated and started to climb the structure. It was apparent that she'd need to do like wise to get a shot at Seven. his drones where cool and all, but Jack took no pleasure in destroying them.

Target on the other hand did. So much so that she'd been oblivious to the new comer and his attacks and what was going on until the paint on her started to bubble. With a shrill squeal she took off running. shoving and ramming her way threw the groups as she fled the intense heat.

Jack blinked a few times, deciding now as a good time to get the hell out of there. But she gave pause and scanned the masses for those incapable of flying who still needed to escape.

The swarm of nasties just didn't seem to have an end, and while Ace could mentally assure himself that wasn't possible, it didn't change the situation at hand. With more people flying up to the top by whatever means available, that meant fewer distractions, fewer meat shields, more crazy zombie troops coming his way. Tough as he was, Ace was not the Mr. Crowd Control the turtle guy near the front (who for the moment had belled himself into his shell to escape the flames) could claim to be. He needed some breathing room, and it was only out of the corner of his eye did he see the sheriff hovering overhead.

Swallowing every last little drop of pride he could muster, he sprung up with a wave of his arm and a cry of “HEY, JACK!”

He was already behind whatever fire-wielding monstrosity was tormenting the others, but still close to being surrounded by the lesser drones. “Could use a lift!”

Jack didn't hesitate, she dove into the mess of wiggly unsightly drones and reached down with her hands to grab Ace by the arms and hoist him up with her as she swooped back up, her wings now laboring to keep them both airborne. It was certainly something she was capable of, but not something terribly easy either.

"Hold on, I don't reckon Caz would appreciate me droppin' you much." She cautioned as she started to gain lift and rise hire as she circled the tower to bring them toward the observation deck.

"Just over there," he shouted above the rabble, trying not to think of where she knew Caz from, or how they nearly resembled a poor man's Sonic and Tails flying over the uproar. He pointed where he wanted to go with one of his dangling feet. "On the first arch. Just need a good perch."

Even if he'd managed to forget pumpkin hill, Jack highly doubted she ever would. She was already high enough for the perch he wanted so that's where she went, flapping slowed as she approached and lowered the cat onto his feet on the support.

"Be careful. I'm sure there's more of those ...things, up here too." She offered as she left him and started to flutter back, checking once more for stragglers.

"H'alright!" His shoes hit the dark orange steel with a clang, and he was already whipping himself around for positioning on his vantage point. It took a bit, but if she listened very carefully, the sheriff just might have heard him mutter 'Thanks' before she flew off.

He crouched on one knee for comfort's sake, and aligned his eyes with the sights. "Okay," he whispered aloud, if only to gather his bearings. "Time to play sniper."

The fennec fox growled to himself as he kept his distance from the towering vacuum inferno, crouching with a hand upon the ground to keep himself steady. Reaching underneath his rustling raincoat, he pulled from his back -- apparently -- a back-up hat, and stuffed it back onto its rightful place betwixt his ears. Clicking his tongue, Vito gazed upon the results of his partyin' down.

"Well, that ain't any good... He's gonna steal the show at this rate...! And nothin' I have can put a damper on -that-..."

Vito continued to mull over what options he had available, before being surprised by the sudden instance of a grenade being lobbed overhead. The explosive hobbled and bounced into the general vicinity of the swirling pillar of fire, before it was joined by a brother flopping neatly beside it. With a tink, and a p-tank, the objects danced right into the vacuum, being pulled into the current of air before finally going off. If one grenade wasn't enough to blast the poor thing aside, two of them very well might have done the job, and then some.

The fennec fox gazed over his shoulder to examine the guilty parties responsible, and very quickly pulled the hood of his raincoat over his head to obscure his face.

"Sh**bomb, why the hell is the heat here...?!"

For some reason, Detective Jacques stood beyond Vito's huddled position from afar, a handful of officers from the park by his side. The two on his right where apparently the culprits behind the lobbing of the grenades -- the rest were armed with their standard weapons, and with a nod from Basil, immediately leapt into action, dashing into the area to do their duty, as it were, and subdue any of the odd minions that were still shambling about. Jacques, in the meantime, made haste with a couple of the remaining officers to check on the well-being of the combatants who were caught up in the mess.

He strolled by Vito, and placed a gloved hand upon the fox's shoulder, giving it a heartfelt pat or two. "You faring alright there?"

Vito shuffled uncomfortably, inching away from the detective slightly while trying to keep his face somewhat obscured. He didn't need to get caught here by that idjit. "Y-yeah, I'm... I'm doin' fine -- you oughta go check on the girl first -- the red one over yonder. And the other folks, too, yeah?"

Basil paused before he gave his nod in agreement. "Very well, then. It looks like the worst of this might be partially finished, so you just stay here for now." With a gesture of his hand, he motioned for one of his employees to stay with the cloaked fennec, before quickly stepping over to check in with Ember, and any others that were nearby.




The ferret huddled next to Vito, and looked the crouched figure up and down, before apparently recognizing the lining of that particular hat, sticking out from beneath the edge of the raincoat's hood... "... Uh... Boss Vito...?"

The fennec almost -glared- at the officer from below the brim. There was a further pause before he finally responded, realizing who the ferret was. "... ... Laramie. Really? Th' -hell- are you doing here..?! With... that nosier-than-thou flatfoot, even..!"

"N-no, see, I... Vince told me to go...! He said I'd find you where the rabbit was headed! Listen, he has a message for you..."

Collab post with Kazz, who foolishly agreed to this idea.

Key had to admit, she was impressed with the mole. She gave her a rare smile. "Thanks, that'll help a lot."

Then, things got hot. Literally. She paused for a minute, her mind rapidly reassessing the scene before her. Even with cover, she wasn't sure she could make it through fast enough, and she didn't like the look of the tower. Having to get to the far side of it would take even longer, and she was definitely not the fastest of people. She needed a way to get there faster than her little koala legs could carry her.

Upon seeing the unicorn, Key had an idea. A crazy, impulsive, and probably very bad idea, but an idea nonetheless. Turning to him, without bothering to introduce herself or even give a polite, 'Sir' in response, she instead asked, "How fast are you and do you think you can carry me?"

Rodolf raised his eyebrows for what felt like the millionth time that night. For a moment, he looked at the koala with a truly stunned expression, but it soon faded. "Fast enough, and yes," he said in a clipped, businesslike tone, after a couple seconds of consideration. "Unless we start throwing more bombs," he added after a moment, with a sideways glance to the events happening far too close. Either way-- he wasn't itching to get involved, and an excuse to get to the tower? Why not?

Dignified? Hardly. The unicorn was no pack horse, but... sometimes, circumstances called for it.

He pulled a hand through his abundance of hair, and crouched down on the ground so Key could climb aboard.

"Forget bombs. We just need to get to the tower. And not the melting side," she replied, her mind racing. This wasn't a situation she had ever anticipated being in, but when you needed to get to a tower quickly and there was someone around to give you a lift, why not? The fact that that someone was a unicorn was just an... interesting addition.

When he crouched down, she awkwardly climbed onto his back, mumbling something that sounded like, "Lemme know if I pull your hair or somethin'." She turned back to Caz and gave a slight wave, then faced the tower again. She figured 'giddyup' was probably an inappropriate thing to say, so instead she just said, "Alright. Let's do this before I regain my common sense."

As soon as the weight of the koala had settled on his back, Rodolf took off. There may have been long white hair blowing in Key's face; she would simply have to deal with it. Keeping a careful eye on the fiery fight, he ran in a tremendously wide arc, giving wide berth to avoid the possibility of being caught ablaze. To the considerably-less-melting side of the tower he went, like a behorned bullet. ... okay, maybe not quite so much, but faster than Key could have brought herself there, they closed in.

He may have muttered something about 'please return all seats to an upright, locked position' under his breath.

When they took off, Key might have made a little squeak of surprise as she grabbed onto his shoulders just a bit more tightly.

As the tower loomed ever closer, Key squinted her eyes and opened her mouth to say something- and got a mouthful of hair. Sputtering, she used one hand to hold the offending follicles aside, then shouted, "Hey! When we get close, can you get... really low? I'm going to jump off you to get a head start on the tower!" As she reconsidered what she was asking him, she added, in a bit of a rushed mumble, "... If that's okay with you and won't, y'know, break you or somethin'."

As he slowed down on the approach, the unicorn considered the koala's request.

"Yes."

Well, that was simple of him; as he all but dug his heels in, he suddenly ducked his head down as he skidded. "Fire away," he said, through a mouthful of the hair around his neck.

She barely had time to shout a quick, "Thank- AAIEEEE!" as she launched herself off of Rodolf, using his skidding momentum to launch her even further than her own considerably good jump already had. If her mind had been capable of thinking of anything other than 'I am flying this might be the coolest thing I have ever done', she would've been panicking about whether or not she'd be able to make it to a metal beam or not based on her trajectory, but through sheer luck her hands found a beam a decent ways up.

Hoisting herself up with ease, she glanced down quickly and grinned at her height, then continued to climb at a rapid pace. It had been a long time since she'd be able to climb something so tall, and she would quite enjoy it.

Rodolf waited a moment to see that she landed safely; almost the second he saw she had, he snorted and closed the remaining distance between the tower and himself. While far from as accomplished a climber as the marsupial, he still knew how to scale, and he followed his temporary passenger up. Slower than the koala, of course, but he was in no particular hurry.

"Let's just hope I never do that again," he muttered to himself.

OOC: You guys are welcome to assume Key and/or Rodolf did or didn't get helped up.

----


Once Rock was done extending his assistance and hurling people onto the observation deck roof, he plodded the rest of the way up, pulled himself onto level ground, and deactivated his boots.

He took in the scenery in silence. Slow steps carried him forward across the damp metal roof. One hand rested on his sheathed knife, the other on his holstered pistol. He was listening—watching.

Once the group mounted the observation deck roof, they found that the remainder of the tower still reached high over their heads. Intricate webs of steelwork stretched from where they stood, and laced together high above, making it feel like they had stepped inside the empty skeleton of some super-tall pyramid. A central pillar—presumably housing an elevator shaft—ran the rest of the way up the center to the highest-level far above. There didn't seem to be any door for them to enter it from, though.

The observation deck's roof was barren besides those tower supports. Though clean of obstruction, save for the occasional air conditioning unit and other to-be-expected roof clutter, all the surfaces wore the telltale grime of disuse and exposure to the elements. It wasn't an area intended to be visited by the general public; the lack of safety railing made it that much more apparent.

Quick shadows from overhead disrupted the orangish lighting. It was Seven. He and a few of his troops dropped down from above, and landed opposite the group, almost on the other end of the big, flat, square roof. The soldiers landed behind him, unarmed, though one carried a metal briefcase. Seven himself had apparently discarded his green sweater at some point, revealing a black, armored vest. His expression looked humorless, for once, and matched his gloomy attire and rain-matted hair.

He didn't say anything yet; he only glared.

As the explosions went off, somewhere within the swirling inferno, the soldier's output of fire seemed to stop. There was the gentle rumbling noise—the deep whooooommmmmf—of flames dissipating as the fireball drifted away from the ground, but, as the flames thinned and boiled away, the noise did not.

Whooooooooorrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmm

The flames finally rose enough to see the source of the noise.

Whrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmm

The motorcycle—blackened and bent—was still running. The motorcycle screamed and whined and spun its wheels, peeling melted rubber off onto the pavement, as the soldier, still standing, withheld it at one outstretched arm's length. Braced against the screaming engine, the thing had dug its heels in, and stopped the motorcycle where it was. The motorcycle began to tilt. Its whirring wheels drifted across the pavement, as it pushed against the hand locked around its handlebar. Then the wheels ruptured, spinning out belts of charred, smoking rubber, and the motorcycle stripped its wheels down to the rims.

It flipped over on its side, still revving and spinning its wheels, and the silent soldier let go of the handlebar.

Whatever the soldier's suit had been made of had not been strong enough to withstand the blast, and—partly melted onto the soldier's skin, partly ripped by blast shock—it hung in pieces off the creature, revealing a skinny, emaciated body underneath… as well as a gleam of colour. The creature stared down Vito, and anyone who flanked the Fennec by any significant amount would be able to see the metal bracket seemingly fused to the thing's back. Within this bracket was a jewel—a deep blue, bevelled rectangle recognizable to anyone who had ever spent any amount of time in a particular twin dimension of the current universe—it was a Sol emerald.

The creature stood there for a moment, fists clenched at chest level, leaning forward like an excited child. Then it took a step. Then another. Then it began to jog, then run, then sprint over the ground towards Vito, hand outstretched to grab at whatever part of the fox it could reach first.