The Castle (IC) [M] {04}

[Boog]

Jeremiah turned toward Aisha. "Hear something? No, I di- didn'- didna... dnahah hah hah..."
He was staring at a point somewhere behind Mel, where something was happening. A statue of the goddess of truth strode out of the shadows, raising the set of balances she held and letting it thwack against her stone palm. It grinned wickedly, the wrinkles in a face that should have been unable to acquire them drawing ones gaze to the cracked gouges over her blindfold where her eyes should have been.
"Hey loves..."
And around the room, from more sculptures stepping out of their respective walls. "Hey loves..." "Hey loves..." "Hey loves..."

---

There was a plink,  somewhere behind those facing the two new passageways. A furrae figure that, one could presume, had made the noise pressed itself against the wall to hide from sight.

[lucas marcone]

"...What?!" Ian said in a defenceive manner. "Oh come on don't you think this all is even the least bit interesting? Sure beats the haunted house they set up on campus for halloween."

[Angel]

Ketefe took a few breaths to get over the heart palpitation that had occurred, and looked to Cogi. "Okay, you got it," she said breathily. She took a few steps forward, shooting a look to Ian. "Interesting, yes, but now is not the time," she said, mostly to cover up her fading initial shock.

Before she went any further, she heard a plink! from behind where she and the others were standing. Her eyes narrowed, her muscles tensed and she turned, slowly, looking in the direction the small sound had come from. "Who's there?" she called, hand hovering over the hilt of her sword.

[lucas marcone]

The sound of Ian's guns cocking said he was ready for action too.

[Aisha deCabre]

Rynkura could still sense the demon's presence nearby in her place, chained on the ground and having been rather matted and dirt-ridden, though he was hard to hear.  This dreary place, draped in shadows, for the first time the tigress was doubting herself, and the skills of the adventurers somewhere above...all she could do was wait.

She had her magic, though it was dulled.  At first, the Healer had the urge to overrun the caves with her vines, this time to try enchanting them with poison.  But she knew the thought was one out of rage.  It would waste her energy and perhaps rouse the demon's ire and end her life early.  Still Rynkura was anxious, something had to be done...a message to send to the adventurers that she was alive, probably.  And at the same time she would know whether they had found it or not.

With little movement and more quiet uttering, she summoned a flickering orb of light and watched it ascend, her eyes having a glow to them while they followed it.  Whether it would make it or not was low in chances...too low.  But it was something.

*     *     *

Aisha regained her breath while listening to Jeremiah's answer, which came out as a harsh stutter.  The panther almost didn't dare follow his gaze.

But she did, and she almost stumbled again.  Ah damn, so it wasn't a trick of the light...

A statue of Justice followed by three others, each about the size of an average furre yet still as menacing in their unblinded eyes, had stepped out of the wall and were coming towards them.  There were four she could count, their voices ringing one after the other...one was coming behind Mel, and the others were each making their way to a respective group member.

"Oh mierda..." she cursed and stepped back, raising her sword defensively and wondering what the hell the deal was.  "Everyone watch out!"

[Gareeku]

Hearing Aisha's whispered words to him, Gareeku looked back at her, back at those beautiful ruby-like eyes, smiling softly as he did so. When she looked away to scan the surroundings, the wolf continued to gaze at her for another second or so, before doing the same. His thoughts also wondered to the safety of the others. He, like the others still in the chapel, had no idea if those who had ventured down into the catacombs below were still alright, or even alive for that matter.

It was then, however, that Gareeku turned his head to look back at Aisha, who had spoken once more, this time speaking of her desire that this would all end, but in the meantime deciding to occupy herself with some training.
"I think that, in this place, that goes without saying." The wolf replied as he watched the pantheress make her way to the aisle, before kicking the stones on the floor away to make a small clearance for her to practice in. As he watched her, Gareeku could tell that Aisha's renowned resolve had returned, and this made him a bit less worried, as he can been concerned that her injury could have demoralised her.

As Aisha continued training, Gareeku could see that she was beginning to get the hang of only using one arm with a weapon. Again this made him a little less worried, as the wolf wasn't sure how well she would cope with only one arm in terms of fighting.

It was then, however, that the pantheress stopped her training, a blank look in her eyes before digging the point of her dragonblade into the ground and leaning on it as she seemingly tried to regain strength. As she did so, Gareeku made his way into the aisle and next to her.
"Are you ok?" the wolf asked, concern evident on his face. "Don't wear yourself...out..."

Trailing off as he noticed the look on Aisha's face, the wolf looked in the direction that she was. It was then, however, that one of his ears suddenly perked up. He, like Aisha, had heard something. It was faint, but he had definitely heard it. Listening to the pantheress' question, Gareeku reached for his sword.
"Yes..." the wolf replied, unsheathing his sword as he spoke. "...I did."

The sound of Jeremiah's stuttering then caught Gareeku's attention as he turned around to see what he was stuttering about. It was then that, with slightly widened eyes, the wolf saw the reason why he had suddenly decided to have a stuttering fit.
Noticing the wicked grin on the living statue's face, Gareeku grimaced as he raised his sword. However, the statue wasn't to be the only living piece of rock that would be advancing towards the group. Hearing more noises, the wolf saw that three more statues had come to live, now advancing towards each member of the group with the same evil grin that the first statue possessed.
"Shit..." Gareeku cursed under his breath, raising his sword and staring at the statue that had chosen him for prey, while at the same time mindful of the other statues and their targets.

"Come and get me." the wolf said to his stone foe, his voice carrying a menacing growl as he shifted into a defensive position. He was ready.

[Boog]

It never ends! Jeremiah backed away from the nearest stature, only to turn to see another advancing toward the group from another side. Five flavors of demon, little flappy things, some vixen with claws, a six eyed lightning monster, the screwey spider chick, and now I'm being menaced by masonry. It's not fair! It's just not FAIR!
The statues advanced further, the one that had attracted Gareeku's ire grinning more and charging. They didn't move any slower for being made of stone, rushing in close and swinging with her set of balances like a blackjack. Another advanced on Aisha somewhat more leisurely, smirking, while the other two decided Mel was mildly more of a threat than Jeremiah. After all, a fifth had just showed up to block the frog's retreat ("Hey loves...")

---

Whatever was down the hall peered out the slightest amount and hid again. Something was strange about the details of its face, but it was too far to make out.

[Gareeku]

As he watched the statue advance, Gareeku noticed the grin on the thing's face widen as it began to charge. The speed in which the statue moved was most surprising, the wolf's eyes widened as he saw this for himself. Almost immediately, however, he composed himself, breaking out into a charge of his own as it appeared as if he would take the statue on head-on. However, at the last second the warrior darted the statue's left-hand side, feeling the force in the air that the statue made when it swung it's set of balances, barely missing the wolf's head as he darted out of the way.

As soon as his feet made contact with the ground, Gareeku began his counter attack. Gripping his enchanted katana with both hands, the wolf swung the blade in towards the statue's hip, a blazing trail of white energy trailing the weapons path as it moved.

Wary of the fact that the statue may try a counter attack of it's own if his attack didn't work, Gareeku immediately rolled away after he had executed his attack. Rising to his feet afterwards, the wolf's eyes darted around for a moment, checking on how the others were doing before shifting his focus back onto his foe.

[Aisha deCabre]

The statues advanced, all of them bearing no weapons save for their balances...still they looked intimidating enough.  Aisha even wondered how they could defeat creatures of stone, perhaps animated by the dark forces around the castle.  And when they charged, they weren't all that slow...

The cocky look on the one that made a target of the panther certainly wasn't lost on her, while she could hear the rest charging the others with heavy footfalls.  She held her blade up, turning her body so that the side with the bandaged shoulder wasn't in reach of the beast.  She had the impression that it was waiting for her to make the first move, and with that, make a mistake.  Aisha had her strength, but she couldn't afford to rip the bandages where the stump of an arm was still sure to be tender.

"What, you're not gonna come at me?"  She hissed, sidestepping around.  "Think I'm weak?"

It looked like she didn't have a choice...but it was then she remembered (having forgotten several times before the battle in fact) that the speed amulet still dangled around her neck.  With a loud growl, Aisha quickly touched it and blazed forth in a blur, raising her sword diagonally.  Her feet flew, and she was ready to dodge any blow.  The first thing she was going to try was to knock the weapon from the statue's hand...whether it worked or not, she was soon behind it, ready to come on for another try at slowly taking the thing apart blow for blow.

It would be dizzying, but with nothing but her sword to use, it was as good a defense as any.

[Sunblink]

As Cogidubnus negotiated with the demon apparently dwelling in Ketefe's subconscious, Keaton limited her role to that of a silent and uncomprehending bystander. Everything seemed to be so utterly beyond her understanding, from Cog's communication with the demon's demands, to how it came to nest inside of Ketefe's mind in the first place, to the point Keaton's frenzied, feverish brain made her want to scream in frustration. Instead, Keaton merely clenched her hand around Catastrophe's shaft and resorted to wringing at it, curbing her agitation through the gyration of her knuckles and muscles alone. The other hand still cradled Cog's charm.

That intensified once Ketefe pointed out the presence of the newly-manifested hallway. Pupil dilating, Keaton snapped her head in its direction, her mind reeling. Where did THAT come from?! she thought, then settled her gaze back on Cog somewhat fearfully.

Ultimately, when Cog ordered that they keep walking, Keaton weakly nodded her consent and summarily returned to her position in the back of the line. She didn't like where this was going, but she wasn't going to complain, regardless. It wasn't like she had anything better to contribute, so it was best she kept her mouth shut. As that thought came and went, Ketefe suddenly whirled around and yelled something to the darkness, apparently after detecting a presence which Keaton hadn't noticed in her reverie. Cursing under her breath, Keaton jerked her head toward where Ketefe was glaring, the core of her artificial eye flaring.

Something was there.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Cogidubnus]

 At the first sound of noise, Cog's ear twitched, and along with the others he turned to face whatever had stirred in the darkness. He was vaguely annoyed, in one corner of his mind - walking for what seemed like hours only to find something right when they were about to get out of there seemed almost...malicious. Hell seemed to like playing games with them.

Cog raised a hand and sent the little ball of sparks deeper into the darkness, towards the noise, the ball illuminating the darkness like a fork moving back syrup, the viscous darkness almost closing back behind the little ball of light. Cog narrowed an eye, and brought his sword down and to the side in a low guard.
"Who'se there?"

[Boog]

Jeremiah shrieked like a small child as he met with the fifth statue blocking his escape. He parried it's first blow haphazardly with the axe, panicking more as he staggered backwards.
Gareeku's assault knocked the statue back a little, cracking a ragged gash at it's waist. It grimaced and retaliated, throwing it's superior weight into an attack on the wolf.
The statue that was intent upon Aisha paused momentarily, smirking as the balances met with her palm a final time. "That's about the sum of it, sweetheart. Truth be told, you're down an arm and some competent allies." She returned to her leisurely approach, raising the balances in one hand with a cruel chuckle, "I'm not too worried."
She should've been, as insofar as the statue could tell over the course of the next few seconds it was back in hell. "The fu-! Gah!" The sword dug noticeable gouges in the statue, even shattering a few fingers as it knocked the balances from her grasp. The statue whirled with a snarl and fought back, attempting to punch the offending demon hunter.

--

To the question "Who's there?" A multitude of replies are expected. These expected replies are "Nobody," "Who's asking?" or possibly "The plumber, I've come to fix the sink."
"Aisha."
Mildly less expected.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cogidubnus's eyebrows rose, and stood silently on the rough-hewn rocks beneath him, unmoving. He continued to send the little ball of light further into the cavern, hoping to illuminate whatever it was that was speaking.
The voice didn't quite sound like Aisha, but...

Cog kept his sword ready, and ran a few spells through his mind, preparing himself. He spoke again, this time a bit more softly. "Aisha? Come out into the light then." Cog tightened his grip on his sword. He doubted it really was the melanistic feline - why would they find Aisha here? She hadn't followed them down, unless the group above had changed their minds. His yellow eyes narrowed, straining to see in the dark, and he attempted to see any sign of a blue glow through the eldritch vision of his glasses. Aisha's cape and sword should glow a definite blue, even through the hellish darkness of the cavern.

[Boog]

---

The individual stepped into the light. It was dressed like Aisha. It was Aisha's height, physique, it had the missing arm, it even had the embarassing birthmark she didn't tell anyone about.
Instead of a head it had a featureless, knobbly looking lump about the size of a tennis ball.
"Jig's up, guys! Come on out!" It's voice was very close to Aisha's, but had some sort of accent. So did the voices of the other two that came from down the two new hallways that sounded like Jeremiah and Ian.
"Ah, fuck. Already? You couldn't fool them for two minutes?"
"You're supposed to be the coward, YOU sneak around."
"Both of you are forgetting what's important here." The Ianesque pulled a firearm out of its jacked and slammed a magazine into place. "Me looking awesome."
"Shaddap."
The Aishathing revealed a sword identical to the huntresses while the Jeremiahly Individual pulled a large knife out of its coat pocket...

[Angel]

Ketefe paused at the shadowed figure's response. This was hell. Absolutely nothing was impossible. And the panthress probably could have been so quiet they wouldn't have heard her follow them. But the verity of the response was just improbable enough for the azure feline to be skeptical.

She weighed responses - if it was Aisha, attacking would be wrong and make her look stupid and bloodthirsty. If it wasn't Aisha, welcoming whoever it was would kill many of them and make her look stupid and naïve. She glanced back at the others, all capable and dedicated warriors, to see how they would react. Cog was asking whoever it was, Aisha or otherwise, to come out and show themself. Ketefe turned back to the shadows, unsheathing her sword and getting into an attack position in case it was the latter.

Big surprise. It was.

Whatever it was had brought friends along, "mimicking" Jeremiah and Ian. From the neck down, they were... almost convincing. But their heads were shapeless, bland lumps of flesh that weren't quite as grotesque as some of what she'd seen.

"Y'know, you guys almost had me fooled," Ketefe commented. "But I gotta say, hell is losing its creativity. You are the WORST mimics I've ever seen." She crouched, prepared to spring and attack whenever they did. 

Within her mind, her demons snickered.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel turned to see the rapidly moving statues. She was taken by surprise at the speed that stone could move. She grabbed for the first spell that she thought might effect marble. Small bubble-like spheres, each the size of a small egg, left her hands and flew at the two closest. As each contacted a surface they would burst, rapidly releasing a powerful shockwave of air. Like an explosion only with magic as the accelerant.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog's eyes widened in horror at the grotesque mockeries of his companions, the very audacity of hell to impersonate the people that he'd grown to trust setting his teeth on edge - he didn't curse, but the ball of sparks suddenly tripled in brightness and illuminated the trio of dopplegangers completely, while the wolf grabbed his sword with both hands and ran forwards. His eyes narrowed, he watched the Ian-esque thing load a handgun, and the one-armed Aisha produce a sword just like the other Aisha possessed. Out of habit, he almost ignored the Jeremiah-esque thing, the frog almost never really engaging in combat, but he caught the glint of silver the thing produced from that ratty tweed coat.

That gun was the most dangerous thing there - closing the distance quickly, Cog tightened the grip on his sword and swung with a strike that flowed upwards in a silver arc aimed at the thing's gun hand before swinging over his head and falling back down upon the thing.

[lucas marcone]

streaks of purpleish light wizzed by Cog giveing him wide birth but going for any targets he could get. "Pathetic." Ian said refering to the doppelgangers inabity to mimic them fully. "How could you fool us by mimicing me? You think we're morons?" The streams of light stopped long enough for Ian to reload. Depositing empty clips into the empty slots in his belt and slapping in two full clips.

[Boog]

Mel's blasts knocked the two statues back, but not far. Speedy though they were, they were heavy. The two exchanged a glance and came at the dragon again, this time on opposite sides of their target.
Jeremiah, if it really had to be said, was still panicking. One frenzied swing with the axe had managed to break a goodly portion of the statue's face but she was still coming, apparently unperturbed.

--

The accusations of mimicry provoked course laughter from the Ianesque. "Hey guys, I don't think they get it..." It chuckled as bullets fired around Cog's charge slammed into the walls around it. It raised its arms against the resulting shrapnel of stone but didn't stop it's mocking laughter, even as it brought it's gun forward to block Cog's strike with the barrel. It squeezed the trigger, in the hopes of scaring Cog into falling back as the lethal cough of the firearm showered the rest of the party with more stone shrapnel.
The Aishathing brought her hand to her pendant momentarily and rushed forward, that speed becoming kinetic energy to power a flying kick aimed at Keaton. "I'll not fail in my duty! Die, demon!"
The Jeremiahly Individual approached Ketefe cautiously, materializing illusionary doppelgangers to hide amidst. And, much like Jeremiah, it liked to talk.
"Mimics?" It was if Jeremiah was a caricature, a cartoon. The mildly nasal city accent exaggerated, the slight grin to the voice magnified into a permanent state of trying not to burst out laughing, "Nothing doing, love. Hell's outdoing itself. Jeremiah's still up where you left him, guarding the door, that's true..." The illusions milled around her, each talking in turn. Which was real? "And he's also down the hallway, and in one of the passages you left..." Another one, walking right by her, whirled around to try to bury a knife  in her. Even it seemed surprised when it turned out that one was an illusion. "And he's right here, remembering how tight your grip was when you were about to feed him to some vulpie from hell..." Vulpie was a rather bad word for a fox, but that wasn't what was really noticeable about the statement. What really caught one's notice was how they were delivered. Would an illusion's words be accompanied by breath on the nape of Ketefe's neck? That Jeremiahly Individual raised it's knife...

[lucas marcone]

"Man, how do I miss that badly?" Ian remarked as he took an aimed shot at Ianesque

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog was rather surprised when the thing tried to actually block his strike with his very target - he was even more surprised when the thing kept a grip on his gun despite having a very fast-moving razor try and whack it out of his hands. Cog's sword slid down the rather short barrel and caught in the trigger guard, biting into the metal but not quite cutting through. Cog didn't curse, but his eyes narrowed.
He acted quickly.

Moving in a blurring motion, the wolf let go of his sword with his left hand and shot forward, grabbing the Ian-esque thing's gun wrist and pulling forward hard. As he did so, he shifted on his feet and his hips, using his right hand to bring his sword to his side and parallel to his body. Pulling forward and to the side on the Ianesques arm, making sure to keep that gun aimed at the cavern walls, he then reversed his hips and stabbed forward in a disemboweling thrust.

[lucas marcone]

Ian popped off a few rounds at the jaramiahly. "They're wasteing our time. We have to pick up the pace!"

[Aisha deCabre]

At first, it looked to be clear that Aisha hadn't heard anything the statue had said before charging.  She was energized with her training and the will to fight, ignoring any kind of exhaustion that would come.  That would be dealt with later.

But after a moment, the speed had caused the panthress to become dizzy...she stopped to see how much damage she had done.  But she couldn't stand around long enough, for in just a few seconds the creature retaliated with a swift punch towards her.  With a growl, Aisha wove to the side, bringing her sword down at the same time to try knocking the arm away.

The wind from the speed of the attack caught her though, and she was thrown back a bit, catching herself with her feet.  Ears were swept back, eyes took on the same glow of determination.  The huntress observed the damage that she had done...the scales and a few fingers taken, a few niches in the stone.

Then she replied.  "You see?  You shouldn't underestimate me, maldita, even with my arm gone.  The last one who underestimated me was turned straight into ashes.  And for your information..." she growled.  "My allies are among the most competent fighters I have ever met, as well as most loyal comrades.  Don't underestimate them either."

In the next second, she used her own natural speed, zig-zagging to the statue's side and leaping behind, and hoping to bring her sword down with as much force as she could to sever its arm...then perhaps it would be a more fair fight...

[Sunblink]

Stunned as Keaton was during the unveiling of the doppelgangers, she seemed to have no verbal or physical contribution, reduced only to numbly staring at the approaching, decapitated carbon copies. Impersonators? Well, wasn't the weirdest thing the Castle had thrown at the adventurers, although it was certainly one of the most ostensibly amusing, judging by the banter exchanged between the mimickers. Amusement didn't last long. The duplicates attacked, using their individual methods of assault. Keaton cursed loudly and jerked backwards as the Aisha-copy's body fluctuated and twisted in the darkness, materializing in front of her with overwhelming speed and aiming a kick at Keaton's body. The source of the speed was something beyond Keaton's currently frenzied comprehension - apparently it was somehow gleaned from clutching the amulet in the Aishathing's hand.

With her body lethargic and dizzy from earlier blood loss, Keaton was vulnerable to such a swift assault. Clutching Cogidubnus's charm in one hand and Catastrophe in another, Keaton prepared to weave to the side, but just barely and drunkenly jerked to the side before the Aishathing's foot impacted her shoulder with a sickening crunch. Shrieking, Keaton was nearly flung backwards, her grip around the objects in her hands nearly relinquishing instinctively. Keaton hit the floor back-first a few feet away from the ledge, aching profoundly from her agonized shoulder, then forced her body into motion, twisting her form to the side. Couldn't lurch to her feet without some effort. Normally she'd be almost instantaneous in reaction, but her movements were muffled to a sluggish extent in her injured state.

STUPID! Keaton mentally shrieked, rolling onto her knees and driving the end of Catastrophe into the ground, using it as leverage to help her to the ground. Fucking ASSHOLES! I was USING that shoulder! I'm going to fucking KILL THEM!

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Angel]

The second the Jeremiahly Individual approached her and spoke, Ketefe realized she was wrong in calling the creatures mimics. They were satires. Parodies. Mockeries of her trusted friends, probably Hell's way of trying to instigate her and the others. She willed herself not to get too flared up about this, and focused on the illusion trick of the frog doppelganger. That knife was something she hadn't seen the real Jeremiah use that much, but it could be easily blocked once she found the non-fake faker.

The illusions spoke in turn, circling her and trying to confuse her. Her eyes darted from frog to frog, hunting for the real one. She flinched when one of them buried a ghostly knife in her, relaxing when she saw its surprise. Then another one spoke, right behind her - reminding her of the incident she'd been trying to forget for a while now. She paused for just a moment, a sneaky thread of guilt squeezing her heart for a split second as she remembered her friend's panicked eyes...

"Whatever this thing uses you for, it's not your fault! Just remember, alright?!"

That thought, and a few gunshots from Ian, broke the daze she was in. She spun around, ducked away from a bullet whizzing over her head, and aimed a thrust at the Jeremiahly Individual's heart.

[Gareeku]

As he stared at the living statue, Gareeku smirked slightly with satisfaction as he noticed the gash that his attack had made. However, it looked like it would take a lot more to defeat it. The wolf didn't have any more time to think about this though, as his stone foe moved in to make an attack of it's own. Barely having enough time to defend himself against the statue's attack, Gareeku was thrown back a couple of metres thanks to the statue's significant weight advantage.

Landing on his back with a loud grunt, the wolf warrior immediately flipped back up onto his feet, glaring at the statue. Instead of a grimace, however, Gareeku was smirking.
"Nice moves for a lump of rock." the wolf sneered at the statue, holding his sword in a firm grip. "But I've seen better."

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel saw that her first assault did little but cause the statues to split their trajectory towards her. But the little explosions had done their work in creating a network of fine cracks across the statues surfaces. Her next spell, which had to be unfortunately split between the two, was water. A hard blasting spray to push her attackers back. And more importantly push water deep into the lacework of cracks.

[Boog]

Mel's attackers stood against the rush of water, bracing themselves and then slowly advancing. They snarled and grimaced, eyes locked on Mel.

"Thanks," the statue replied to Gareeku's compliment, "Yours aren't." She advanced more cautiously this time, favoring her unwounded side and holding the balances ready to block.

Aisha's blow sent more cracks racing along the statue's limb; it wasn't off yet, but it was close. With a yowl the stature whirled around to kick her assailant, shrieking curses.

Jeremiah, of course, was still panicking. It was just that now he had possible kidney damage to go with it. The statue had thrown her balances at him as he had tried to flee, and it hit HARD. He'd dropped the axe somewhere, and was just trying to keep the statue misdirected. Most of her attempted blows missed, the frog using his illusions to make himself appear to be one foot to the left or right. Either way he was dodging death, over and over.
Nex, now would be a REAL GOOD FREAKING TIME!
You lack power at this time. Bal has used too much. I would have to be insane, to risk us like that.
ROCKS ARE TRYING TO PUNCH ME, NEX!

--

The Jeremiahly Individual slinked out of the way of the blow with startling dexterity and lashed out with the knife, over and over as he tried to force Ketefe back. The bullets missed, illusions making him look as though he was somewhat off where he really was.
"Tsk tsk, out to get me killed again?" there was real venom in the Mockery's voice; it meant what it said.
"Yeah, everyone's out to get youuOUGH!" The Ianesque shouted as Cog disarmed it and sent it to the floor, and thus out of the way of Ian's other shots. "Help!"
"Already? My good man, I get the impression that we'd be better off using you as equipment sometimes." Something Coglike stepped out of the shadows, air singing as it drew it's blade. "Pardon me if I'm not so cliche as to introduce myself to myself."
The Aishathing charged Keaton, sword at ready...

[Mel Dragonkitty]

The statues advance didn't bother Mel too much. The water was not to knock them away, just to soak them. Standing still and bracing against it was better for her purposes than falling back and away. She wanted the porous marble as full of water as possible, water driven deeply into the fractures her air-bombs had created. Rapidly switching spells the water was replaced by a freezing ray. She was using the same principle that could split the side off a mountain. Freezing water expanded and she hoped to significantly disassemble her opponents by fracturing them.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog's sword slipped into the Ianesque thing's ribs, and it was the work of a moment to twist and cut the blade free. No time to wipe the blood from the blade.
Just as soon as he'd cut one down, another had replaced it. A rather familiar looking opponent.

Of course, if his opponent really knew anything about him, he'd know that time spent talking was time better spent trying your damnedest to kill the enemy. Cog was all about speed, and hitting the enemy hard, and fast. And fast he was. While the grey lupine was confident in his ability to outfight this particular doppleganger, he didn't really have the time for a prolonged swordfight.
A quick dip into his pocket, and the wolf suddenly produced a minor sun in his hand - and just half a second later, as the wolf flicked his thumb at the Cogesque, the light shot at the imposter like a shot, going fast enough to crack the air and the coin hard enough to chip stone and break through bones.