Whoa baby, oh baby don't ya treat me this way

[originaljackass]

Who: [Bad username or site: dragonjack title= @ livejournal.com], [Bad username or site: histruename title= @ livejournal.com], [Bad username or site: honorbeforeall title= @ livejournal.com], [Bad username or site: heroicarturia title= @ livejournal.com], [Bad username or site: thestormishere title= @ livejournal.com], [Bad username or site: gardenerofgaia title= @ livejournal.com] (later)
What: Dragon Slaying
When: June 30th
Where: The Mountains, up in Jack's Cave
Summary: Saber (and co?) goes to confront Jack about his greed and gold, hoping to pull him out of his curse.
Rating: PG-13 to R for language and violence


[Lately Jack had been having dark dreams and with no one to share them with. He had grown more distant, spending more time in his cave, and it took longer and longer for him to roll about in his gold to push away those feeling. The images he had seen were vague... but from what he could see was a king who had won many wars, a demon from the gates of hell to claim the soul he had bargained away, a warrior shrouded in shadows, and a soldier with a monstrous form that seemed almost familiar to him. His dreams had all come to one conclusion.

They were coming for him. He had no idea why, but he could only conclude they would be the end of him.

... well let them come. See how they deal with Jack Horner.]

((ooc: Gonna have two threads here. One for a meetup before running into Jack, if you guys want, then another one for them to actually arrive and confront him. Let me know if there's anything that is fishy or needs clarified.))

Comments

[dragonjack.livejournal.com]

[For the moment, he pays no attention the sword, taking note of what their strategy is. He deems Saber the larger threat and goes for her, aiming a claw full of sword-sized talons in her direction. He can't do much about Karai, but he makes a clumsy swing at her with his tail.]

[honorbeforeall.livejournal.com]

[She makes the same move as before, leaping to avoid the tail-- landing lightly on the dragon's back.

She doesn't think she'll get to stay as long this time, but it's worth a shot. In the meantime she'll keep an eye out for more vulnerable places to stick a sword.]

[heroicarturia.livejournal.com]

[So she'll be the target for now? Fine by her. Saber quickly stops and jumps back to avoid the large hand, though briefly stumbles as she does. Looks like the fall did have some noticeable effect on her legs. Her eyes briefly dart to Karai and then back to Jack. ...If she times things right, she might be able to buy Karai some time.

That in mind, Saber tries to dash at the hand to strike at it with her sword.]

[dragonjack.livejournal.com]

[Feeling Karai against his spine, he starts moving his wings rapidly, with the aim of throwing her off balance. More importantly, it's to keep her from his tiny Filial wings further ahead. He killed Lightning that way. He knows it's his weakness.

Saber's blow succeeds in slicing through two of the talons, leaving them effectively useless as weapons. But Jack meets that with a blast of flames instead.]

[honorbeforeall.livejournal.com]

[It works. Karai nearly falls, but she was at least expecting a distraction; she goes down on one knee, and lashes out with a sword to strike at one wing. The large ones, not the small; she hasn't even noticed those yet, they're so tiny.]

[heroicarturia.livejournal.com]

Avalon!

[Again, as before when they first met, Saber extends her arm and speaks the words of the spell. A white barrier then surrounds her, as she moves back from Jack, which repel the flames that come to her. Despite this, she feels the heat from the fire itself as she moves away. Using the sheath is a great defense, but takes much energy from her.

Her eyes dart again to Karai and she watches the woman as best she can. As long as she can buy time, they could stand a chance, right?]

[dragonjack.livejournal.com]

[Jack lets out an angry hiss at the wing being cut. It's gonna be a bitch to fly if she keeps doing that. With Saber distracted for the moment, Jack does the old fashioned duck and roll tactic, hoping to get rid of Karai that way.]

[thestormishere]

[ Speaking of Lightning...

When Jack makes a re-disappearance from the village proper, it's safe to say Lightning and Aerith at least have a pretty good idea for what might have happened. It's really only a matter of time before the two women decide to venture out to see if their suspicions can be affirmed.

And unfortunately... this means that when coincidence happens to strike particularly strong, they're attracted right to the signs of a fight while on the way, where one of the combatants happens to be a huge dragon wrecking up the farmlands. Imagine that.

Lightning's already got her gunblade in its firearm-form out as she races towards them-- but she doesn't go anywhere near the other combatants. Instead she skids to a stop, staring, taking it in... and aiming the weapon right at the beast trying to fight off the other two. ]

Jack!!

[ She sounds - and looks - pretty damn furious. It's a wonder she offers any sort of warning to her presence at all. ]

/throwing in a short tag, again feel free to godmod the healer

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

Jack, stop!

[Bringing up the rear behind Lightning and trying to catch her breath, Aerith is confused and not sure what to make of this sudden fight--but she remembers how Jack acted in the grocery store, making her worried for the two women fighting him.]

[honorbeforeall.livejournal.com]

[She should be used to magic being thrown around in this place; after all, she is standing on the back of the dragon. Saber's spell (and that sword itself) is somewhat disconcerting, but Karai doesn't let it distract her.

The dragon on the other hand-- she wasn't quite expecting a roll, and Karai loses her balance. She wobbles for a moment and then kicks clear of Jack's falling weight, landing awkwardly on the grass. But she avoids being crushed, at least.

New arrivals...?]

[heroicarturia.livejournal.com]

Karai!

[Saber ignores the new set of people for now. There are more important things than to wonder how someone found their fight. ...Not that a giant dragon, fighting two tiny people in comparison, isn't very hard to miss to begin with. She moves away from Jack with her own roll, allowing the flames to hit an empty space, and dashes to make sure Karai is alright.]

[dragonjack.livejournal.com]

[The shots land and impact. He's got a thick hide and they aren't enough to seriously injure him, but damn if they don't hurt. Ignoring Karai and Saber, he whirls towards the new arrivals and hisses.]

You two stay out of this! [He gives a warning flame at Lightning's feet. He won't attack them - yet. But if Lightning persists, she'll be a target too.]

[thestormishere]

Why are you fighting?!

[ Lightning springs back, not once wavering in her aiming posture. There is a fine line between what she will tolerate and what she won't, and once it's passed... it's practically impossible to go back at all. As suspicious as she's been over this whole weird transformation in Jack, hardly believing for a second what he doesn't know anything about it, she's been fairly tolerant. Perhaps a little biased by her own monstrous troubles.

But if he's turned hostile, that fragile, unofficial deal is off. ]

[honorbeforeall.livejournal.com]

[Karai finds her feet and gives a quick nod to Saber.] I am all right. [A little bruised, that's all. She retrieves her sword from the ground and gives a quick, assessing look Lightning's way.] Do you know who that is?

[She brings the sword up to guard, but hesitates on launching a new attack. Lightning seems on more familiar terms; maybe she can find a solution that doesn't involve killing Jack.]

[heroicarturia.livejournal.com]

[Saber turns her head to Lightning as well, as the other stands toward Jack. Do they know each other?]

No, I haven't the faintest idea. Someone who might have overseen us? [They were pretty high in the air just several minutes ago.]

[dragonjack.livejournal.com]

[Jack does not overhear Karai and Saber speaking, keeping his attention on Lightning.]

Those women are trying to steal my gold. I plan to show them what happens to anyone who tries to steal from Jack Horner!

[thestormishere]

[ Gold? Lightning glances quickly at Aerith, then towards the other two women, staring at them as hard as she thinks is currently 'safe' while also facing down the huge dragon that Jack has become. She and Aerith had talked about the stash already, yes, but it's not like Lightning even fully understands the concept at all. ]

Money is worthless here, Jack.

[honorbeforeall.livejournal.com]

[Karai raises her voice, clear and harsh, for Lightning's benefit.] The gold is cursed. It is what keeps him as a dragon.

[heroicarturia.livejournal.com]

[Saber turns herself away from the Karai and toward Lightning, nodding at Karai's response.]

We only came to destroy the gold, which plagues him. I never had any intention of it coming down to something like this.

[dragonjack.livejournal.com]

[He whirls around on Saber and hisses.]

Nobody's destroying my gold! [And to prove his point, he spews flames at her.]

[thestormishere]

[ -- And then it makes sense to Lightning, at least in part. When had he started to change? During the experiment where everyone thought they'd been living in Luceti their entire lives- where money was important. The effects of the last experiment, which had managed to temporarily change him back to human, aren't yet clear, but it's not much of a stretch to picture...

That's all the time for realization there is, though, and then Jack's spinning on the other women again, shooting out more fire and...

Lightning steps back in a snap-decision, setting her feet and immediately attempting to pull up her range of offensive l'Cie magic. Unfortunately, she's not even half as fast as she'd been back on Pulse and Cocoon, so hopefully the others can dodge the flames for at least a few seconds, but then her Brand flares to life on her chest, and she throws out her free hand, aiming a brightly blue-green Watera spell right for the dragon's head and neck. ]

[honorbeforeall.livejournal.com]

[Karai leaps out of Jack's range of fire, circling around with intent to hack at his other wing-- and then Lightning's Watera spell causes her to halt in her tracks. Magic again. These two warriors outclass her, and she doesn't want to become an obstacle if magic is being used, so she'll close in more slowly, looking for a better way to assist.]

[heroicarturia.livejournal.com]

[Saber rolls the opposite way, narrowly avoiding the attack. She does not interfere as Lightning casts the spell. Rather than that, she stops and calls out to the dragon again.]

Please do not be blinded by greed! I beg of you Jack, cease this nonsense at once!

[Because at this rate, it didn't seem like they would be able to fully stop him to even get a chance. Whatever caused his transformation, being the gold or otherwise, was clearly plaguing him in many ways than just the form of a dragon. And, as much as Saber hates to even think of it, there might be a point where she may have to end this for good.]

[dragonjack.livejournal.com]

[Before Jack can shut Saber up with another burst of flames, he notices that large blob of water incoming. Though he doesn't quite grasp how it could hurt him, he does suspect it might be used to drown him, so he turns his attention to send a burst of flame into the Watera spell, evaporating most of it. What little does land on him ends up stinging as it boils on his skin. Unsurprisingly this just pisses him off.]

It'll be over when you three are gone! [With the way they're surrounding him, he can't hit them all at once. He needs to start fighting dirtier. Rather than his focused attacks, he starts thrashing wildly, sending his claws at any girl that gets in sight, while throwing his tail around, trying to snap at them with his teeth, and flapping his wings to make his back an unwelcome place to be.]

[thestormishere]

[ If Jack is truly being affected by the gold, and the only way he can be "saved" is by removing it, then... yeah. He might need to be removed first. Conclusions are being made in Lightning's mind, and they aren't very pleasant at all.

It's easy enough to just tell oneself that here death isn't permanent - even succumbing to a fate quite literally worse than death wasn't enough to keep Lightning out of this place - but it's still difficult to decide to do it. Lightning's killed a lot of people for what could be argued as far less, but she's still aware of the downfalls.

But once it's come to blows, she's not gonna be the one to back down... and she is not a girl that plays nice when she's got her mind set on something. Forget Water, she's going straight for what's bound to actually hurt, aiming as many ice-elemental Blizzard spells as she can pull off while trying to keep out of the way of the dragon's thrashing offensive. They're still subject to the same problems the Watera had, of course, but if not caught... once they impact, they're cold and sharp, and just maybe she can affect Jack's mobility with them-- particularly his wings. Even with magic still at her disposal, Lightning knows that letting Jack take to the air would be very bad for those left behind. ]

Do you really want to be a dragon forever, Jack?!

[ Probably a useless question at this point-- and perhaps, you know, this is actually the guy's true form... but either way it's just not in the question to let this sort of thing go on. At all. ]