The Land of Chaos: Part III

"I'm fine," responded the grey eyed male. "It's bothersome, but it's not melting." How he would have loved to melt the ice right now. Looking ahead he tried to remember how far away the Unknown actually was. It wouldn't be too far if memory served him correctly. As they continued on their walk Batsu's steps became a bit unsteady. The ice wasn't melting, but he'd lost a great deal of blood beforehand and despite the cold ice on his skin, he felt extremely hot. He wanted to stop, but the Unknown was just over the horizon, so to speak. I don't remember in all my years of living feeling this way. It's exhausting to be this injured with this much Madness inside of me. I've absorbed it into my system, but it's still lingering....taunting me.

DK was not a fan of walking because he was fairly accustomed to flying. He wanted to complain about how his feet hurt, but he figured everyone was tired of his complaining and whining and crying. I wish I had someone my age here. At least in the Unknown I had people my age to play with.... Yeah, he was still a bit of a kid. DK missed his friends in the Unknown even though there were very few of them. He missed flying freely without any concerns. Hunter on the other hand just wanted to be back with Serenity. The deal with Silence had meant he couldn't be with her because he had a job to do. Maybe one day, if she still wanted him. He was still torn up about how she'd left because of Felix. As if that silver haired bastard was more important than him. Hunter was still bitter about that even if Felix was dead.

"Mmkay," Boreas shrugged. "I think we're just about to the Unknown anyways. Then you won't have to deal with the cold." He paused, then looked at Batsu with a grin. "I just thought of something. We're a really unlikely team. Fire and ice," he pointed out with a chuckle. They didn't work too bad as a team either. It was kind of ironic, if one thought about it.

Cross was able to walk for a few more minutes before he had to stop entirely, putting his hand on the trunk of a tree to steady himself. His eyes still half closed, he found his gaze on the ground. His breaths were a bit heavier than they should have been, and his legs didn't seem to want to carry him any further. He suddenly felt like he'd been walking for days. While it would have been smart to call out to the other two, who he'd been trailing behind to begin with, the raven haired male didn't speak, or even open his mouth to. Breathing alone was a difficult enough task right now. This feeling was familiar, once he actually stopped to think about it. He didn't remember absorbing enough Madness to feel this way. He'd given Silence the Madness he'd collected the night before, and had only absorbed the Madness of two creatures since then. Even if one was large, he still should have been capable of handling the Madness it had contained.

Batsu looked at Boreas when the guy turned to him and grinned. What was up with him? He blinked when the orange eyed chakra told him they were an unlikely pair because of their abilities to use fire and ice. "You're right," he replied. "We are a good team, despite how opposite we are." Batsu's expression changed a bit when he saw that the gates to the Unknown were in view. "I see the gates," he said. And souls, lots of them. What are they doing? The winged male became a bit curious at the amount of souls gathered at the Unknown. Was it a coincidence that there were so many at the time of his arrival, or was it something else. Batsu's feathers began to bristle as if it were fur. The grey eyed male narrowed his eyes and picked up his pace. Why were so many souls just sitting there outside the Unknown and what had caused them to leave their bodies? He was no longer bothered by the tiredness he felt. He was worried about these souls. These poor lost souls without vessels that were so vulnerable to Madness.

DK stopped when he noticed Cross wasn't following them anymore. The purple eyed child turned around and then ran over to the raven haired male. "Hey, are you okay?" He knelt down and then looked to Hunter. "I don't think he's gonna make it to the Unknown by himself, we should just fly." Hunter nodded in agreement and without Cross's consent, DK turned into his dragon form and laid down. He waited until Hunter had hoisted Cross onto his back to take off into the air. DK broke through the trees with ease and started off towards the Unknown. Hunter was also on his back. "We're almost there," he told Cross.

"Maybe we're a good team because we're opposites," Boreas suggested, before falling silent to think it over. Would they have still been a good team if he could use fire instead of ice? He snapped out of his distracting thoughts when Batsu said he saw the gates. "Oh cool." Orange eyes blinked when Batsu picked up the pace, and Boreas did the same. "Something up?"

Cross didn't answer DK's question. Something else was bothering him in addition to the fact that he was injured. Was Alice still in the village? Was she safe? He didn't know why he was thinking about that now of all times, when really, he should have been considering whether or not that creature's tail really had been poisonous. After all, the thing's fangs had been venomous, so it wasn't a far cry to assume the tail could've been too. Cross flinched lightly when Hunter helped him onto DK's back. He wasn't about to protest to a ride right about now. "Thanks," he whispered hoarsely to the two of them. He let his eyes slide halfway closed. He refused to close them all the way when he was in such a pitiful condition. Not because he didn't trust Hunter and DK, but because he didn't trust himself not to pass out at such a dire time. What if some of the creatures infected with Madness could fly, and they ran into one on the way to the Unknown? No, he couldn't rest yet. Worse than that, his wound hadn't stopped bleeding and he didn't have any kind of bandages with him. Not that it would have done much for the pain. The stinger had hit the bone, shattering it, so putting pressure on it would be impossible without causing himself to pass out.

Batsu looked to Boreas when questioned. "Souls, lots of them." He was still bristling at the sight. It was such an odd sight, even for him. The winged man paused when they got to the Unknown gates. As if he were a magnet they began to swarm him. As they passed through him Batsu got glimpses of their deaths. It was hard to see what was happening, for it happened so fast, but he does glimpses of black and blue. When the visions ended he turned rewards Boreas. "They're all weeping....everything had been lost and they won't enter because it's too dangerous. What am I to do with most souls that no longer have a true safe haven?" The winged male looked a bit disoriented, but the look disappeared as he heard wings beating. Glancing up he blinked. "That's DK, isn't it?"

DK was pretty swift about getting to the Unknown and he was happy too because he immediately spotted the others. Batsu and Boreas were alive and hopefully well. Landing he turned back to a kid and waved. "Hey guys." His cheerfulness faded when Hunter cleared his throat. "Oh, Cross got hurt. He's barely conscious and he consumed madness." Hunter on the other hand was helping Cross into the Unknown.

Boreas blinked when Batsu said something about souls, and tried to follow the guy's gaze. He couldn't see anything where Batsu was looking. Could only Batsu see them? It wasn't the strangest thing he'd ever encountered, so he believed Batsu when the guy said there were a bunch of souls floating around. But...something like that wasn't normal, right? Why would there be a bunch of souls just...there? He looked curiously to Batsu. The souls were...weeping? That was weird. Did souls have faces or something, that Batsu could see? Boreas tried to imagine it, but all he could think of were ghosts. He looked up at the sound of wings. "Yeah. Yeah it is," he said. Had they been heading to the Unknown as well? Before they landed, he turned to Batsu and said quickly; "Don't worry bud, we'll think of something to help out the souls." When DK turned back into a kid, he gave the boy a wave, glancing to Cross when he was mentioned. "He looks pretty bad off," he frowned. "How many did you guys take care of? Or was it just one giant one?" he asked, looking back to DK curiously.

Cross nearly stumbled forward when he got off DK, but Hunter was there to steady him before he fell. Now that they were back on the ground, the raven haired male took a look around as they went towards the Unknown. He stopped walking, even with Hunter by his side, his eyes on Batsu; or so it appeared. He'd actually caught sight of the souls that were floating around the guy. His first question was, had Batsu lost control? No, Boreas was there. Then...why the souls? For some reason, he felt the odd need to go over amongst those souls. Though, he knew that physically, he couldn't do that. He couldn't move too well, but he wanted to go join those souls. Something was wrong with them, wasn't there? He didn't know how he could tell. He'd never been able to see souls before. He'd only been able to sense when they were near. His emerald eyes seemed to grow a little bit duller and his body a bit weaker as he looked at all the souls floating about. He'd never had a feeling like this before. It was...frightening. Cross had not been frightened in such a way before. It was a calm fear, like he was being pulled away from everything that he knew, only gently. "Batsu..." he called, his voice only a bit above a whisper. "Why...why are they there...?" He didn't know how else to ask. Why were the souls there, and why so many..? And why, why did they seem to call to him?

Batsu nodded when Boreas reassured him that the souls would be okay. His gaze turned to DK as the child explained what had happened. He could see why the kid was excited, but at the same time Cross was in pretty bad shape and needed help immediately. Considering none of them were healers he'd figured the best idea was the same as Hunter's, get the raven haired male to the Unknown ASAP. Walking over to the two, he took Hunter's place once Cross asked him about the souls. "I'll take him inside." He looked to the others. "Stay here and keep a look out, something's not right." He started inside with Cross. When they inside he stopped and looked at Cross. "The souls come from the same place. Something killed them, something with Madness inside of it. They won't come into the Unknown because they know that more Madness awaits them. I don't know what to do with them anymore." He started to walk again, making sure the creatures were following them, which they were. "How can you see them," he asked.

DK had explained about everything, from the time they'd faced the lizard to the time he'd jumped in to hold the creature down, to the point where they found the smaller one that's growl was scary. Once Batsu said that they were going in he took a seat on a rock and looked at Boreas. "What do you think we should be looking for?" He frowned and sighed. "I wish all the creatures we meet were like the squirrels." He swung his legs carelessly. "I think I'm going to go scout," he said as he turned into a small dragon and flew into the sky.

Hunter watched DK fly up into the sky. "Be careful." He then sat down and looked to the side. This was getting crazy. Cross and Batsu seemed to be in their own little space between the two of them and it was leaving them out of the loop. "What's up between those two," he asked. "What are they seeing that we aren't?" He crossed his legs and glanced up at Boreas.

Cross kept his gaze on the souls, even as Batsu came over. For a moment the raven haired man didn't move, but finally decided that maybe it would be better to let Batsu escort him into the Unknown. "There's...nothing we can do for them..?" he spoke quietly after Batsu explained. Something strong must have killed so many souls. Suddenly Cross stopped walking and looked back to the entrance. What if it came while they were inside the Unknown? "I don't know," he responded in a bit of a whisper. The next thing he realized made him stumble as he started back to the gates of the Unknown. "Th-the village...wh-what if it attacked the village..?" He had to go make sure Alice was okay. That was suddenly the only thing on his mind. What if whatever killed those souls had killed them within the village? Alice was vulnerable outside the Unknown, she could've been hurt!

Boreas watched as Batsu took Cross towards the Unknown, listening as DK explained their own monsters. "I don't know, but probably something big if it killed as many souls as Batsu says," he shrugged. He'd been about to say the same thing as Hunter, but fell silent when the human said it first. He looked to the human at the guy's question. "Souls. Batsu says there's a bunch," he shrugged, stretching. "Anyways, I'll be right back. I have to ask Silence something," he said, starting off. He was trying to be civil for the sake of being civil. He didn't hate Hunter any less than before. The only difference was that now he didn't feel like being complicated. He was surprised to see Cross stumbling towards the entrance, blinking and walking up to the guy to help steady him, since he looked just about ready to fall over. Blinking, he looked to Batsu, then back to Cross. "The hell are you doing man? Didn't you come in here to get fixed up?" Well, both of them did, but at least Batsu wasn't fleeing out of the Unknown before getting healed.

On the ground not too far from the large dragon form of DK was a creature with blue energy and a black mist emanating from its body. There were tints of red on the black armor that covered most of its body, and the white scarf it wore was speckled in red. When it sensed the soul of a large creature flying high in the air, it stopped and started in that direction. Very soon after a blue whip wrapped itself around DK's midsection and dragged him to the ground mercilessly.

Batsu shook his head. "The Unknown was supposed to be their home, but Madness is spreading too fast here. It's not safe anymore." He then blinked when Cross stopped and turned for the exit. "Cross, wait," he called after the raven haired male. He followed after the other male, blinking when he saw Boreas, what was he doing here? "Cross, slow down, it wasn't the village. Alice is safe, whatever attacked those souls came from the opposite direction," he said hurriedly. Moving at such a pace was warming up his body and causing the ice to melt. Batsu didn't notice because he was more worried about Cross panicking. "You have to get healed bef-" Batsu stopped when he heard something crash outside the gates. Generally what happened on the outside could not be heard from the inside, but Batsu wasn't exactly human. The presence of Madness washed over him like a wave and it nearly made him stumble. There was so much of it. For a brief moment Batsu feared that Oblivion was coming their way, or Kana, but then he realized that wasn't the case. He glanced at Cross. "Come on, we need to get to Silence."

DK was flying around and had not seen the creature until he was plummeting towards the earth. A loud roar escaped the dragon as he crashed to the earth. Turning back to a child he looked around and spotted the woman. She looked like she was human, but was infected with Madness. Purple eyes narrowed and DK backed away. "I have to find the others."

Hunter had heard DK and spent no time in hurrying in the direction the roar had come from. Sword drawn he came upon the creature and the dragon. "DK get back," he told the child. If anything if this was what had killed those people they needed to find Batsu and Cross immediately.

Cross stumbled straight into Boreas before he realized the guy was even there, his jade colored eyes moving to look at Batsu when the guy said the threat had come from the opposite direction. The winged being seemed to calm down after hearing that, at least a little bit. If it was coming from the opposite direction, that meant though, that it could be where they were at any moment. Or worse, at the village. He slowly nodded, following after Batsu as best as he could with Boreas's help, after the guy said they had to find Silence.

Boreas turned his head to look outside of the gates. What had that sound been? He had a bad feeling. "Yeah, let's," he said, almost impatiently, helping Cross walk along. "But where the heck do we find him?"

The blue and black creature watched the dragon fall to the earth after being pulled down, its gaze going to the brown haired human as he spoke. It wasted no time in starting towards Hunter at a pace that would match the Silver Death's. Once it was close enough, it jumped to land a kick down on Hunter's shoulder. The black mist trailed behind the creature like a translucent tail. Claw-like spikes protruded from its feet, making them look like a mix between paws and talons, rather than human feet.

Batsu wanted to leave Boreas and Cross to go back outside, but that would seem suspicious. They needed to hurry, because whatever was outside the gates was dangerous. Moving ahead of the others Batsu paused when Boreas asked how they'd find Silence. "He should come to us," he replied. The grey eyed male looked around and then tilted his head when he saw movement. "See."

Silence was the same as usual. Black eyes were soft and his white robes fell around him in the same fashion as his white hair. "You have returned as I assumed you would and you brought little ones with you." He looked down at the three creatures who had gathered at his feet. "You all are injured as well." He went over to each of them and withdrew the madness and healed them.

Hunter gasped as the creature came towards him. Whens he landed a kick on his shoulder he dropped to his knees and for a moment froze. She was fast. DK on the other hand wouldn't run, instead he turned into a dragon and swept his tail at the woman engulfed by Madness.

Cross had never been more relieved to see Silence than he was now. He hadn't heard the noise from outside the Unknown, but he had a feeling something was wrong. He wanted to get out of the Unknown, and he wanted to go make sure Alice was okay. He breathed a sigh of relief when his injuries were healed, and then looked to Batsu, and then to Boreas. Boreas hadn't looked too injured. Cross wondered why the guy had come in when Batsu had told him there was danger outside. Maybe he was just a coward. Cross's black wings ruffled in an attempt to stretch out the one that had been injured as he waited for Batsu and Boreas to ready up. Something was still bothering him, but it didn't seem physical anymore, so he could bear with it. "Thank you," he nodded, inclining his head to Silence. He also glanced to Batsu and Boreas, to let them know they were included in his thanks.

Boreas waited until Batsu and Cross were taken care of before turning his attention to Silence. "Silence," he started; "Can you make it so that I can help Batsu and Cross absorb the Madness of the infected creatures?" He wasn't keen on seeing the expressions of Cross and Batsu. He wasn't trying to say that Batsu and Cross couldn't handle it, but wouldn't it be easier if they could all help? Aside from that, if Batsu and Cross couldn't handle it, what would happen? That human would destroy the infected creatures. Boreas couldn't let that happen.

(You forgot Sai's part.)

Batsu didn't want to sit around and wait once he was healed. He'd barely wanted to listen to the short few sentences that Silence had spoken. There was something outside that was filled with Madness and he needed to save it. The winged male started off, but stopped when Boreas asked Silence about the Madness. There was a brief moment where Batsu wasn't sure if he had heard right, but then he turned and realized that his ears hadn't deceived him. Generally Batsu minded his own business, but Boreas was his friend and he felt the need to inform him about the decision he was trying to make. "Boreas, consuming Madness isn't as easy as it looks," he stated. "I'm used to it, and it's a possibility Cross is as well because for a very long time we were one in the same." There was a short pause. "If you're not careful, it will consume you and more than likely kill you." He glanced to Cross then back to Boreas. "Unlike me, both you and Cross have something to lose. He has Alice and you have Fara. You have to think of these things before making this decision."

(Whoops...)

Boreas looked to Batsu when the winged male spoke, and glanced to Cross, who had a frown on his face that looked like it was more from confusion than from disapproval. His orange eyes looked back to Batsu. "I can handle it. Maybe you forgot, but I know what it feels like to be driven mad by that stuff." Boreas nearly shuddered at the thought. He'd gone completely insane when Oblivion had tried to overwhelm him in Madness. He wanted to save other creatures from that fate too. "It won't happen again," he swore. He'd trashed a good amount of the forest while in his larger form on his little rampage. He couldn't remember if he'd hurt any of his allies, though. The orange chakra looked down when Batsu mentioned Fara. As much as he loved the little fairy, she couldn't be his reason for everything. He couldn't exist just to protect her. Hell, the only reason he still existed now was because Silence had given him a purpose, and that purpose was to help contain Madness. "I know what I'm doing," he huffed, turning to look at Silence again. "Will you let me help them?" He was sick of watching Cross and Batsu take all the burden.

The moment Hunter fell to his knees, the creature twisted its body and moved its other foot to kick at his head. Its intention was clearly to knock Hunter's head clean off. Before she could, however, the dragon was back, and had swept its tail into her midsection, knocking her away just in time. She used one hand to slow herself while her feet skidded on the ground. In the very next instant, she was back on the offensive, running towards the dragon this time. As soon as she was close enough, she jumped on its tail and ran up it swiftly. The same whip from before, which materialized out of the blue energy emitted from her body, cracked in the air before it wrapped around DK's neck and tightened as she stood on the dragon's back and kept hold of it. It seemed that she didn't care much for spreading Madness, only beheading every creature she came into contact with.

(I have a new found respect for Boreas)

Batsu shook his head. He remembered that day. All of them had gone into the Unknown and it had ended rather badly until Silence showed up. Batsu trusted Boreas, but as his friend, he didn't think this was a wise decision. To consume madness took a toll on a person, and that one experience Boreas had felt was nothing compared to what he would if he went through with this. Closing his eyes the male sighed as Boreas said he once what he was doing.

Silence was silent as the smaller creatures spoke. He was all for allowing Boreas such power. It meant more features could be cured. As the debate settled down, Silence spoke. "If this is what you wish, then so be it." With that the black eyed guardian touched Boreas on the shoulder and then left in a brilliant show of white light.

Hunter was sure he was done for, but thanks to DK his life was saved. Unfortunately the Dragon was being attacked now. Eyes narrowing, Hunter drew the sword. The hell with this, he was not going to stand around and new assaulted until the others arrived. "Fire style: Red Wave." Swinging the sword, a wave of fire flew towards the creature.

DK was glad Hunter was okay, but became uneasy when the blue creature came towards him. She was so fast. Huge tried snapping at get as she crawled up his back, but that became pointless as the whip caught around his neck. The dragon roared loudly and tried to shake the woman off, only to find himself choking. DK began to panic. He didn't want to die like this, he was only a kid!

(Yay~)

Boreas swallowed lightly before Silence touched him on the shoulder. He'd expected to feel different, but he didn't, not really. Instead, what he felt was an overwhelming presence outside of the Unknown. He immediately turned his head in the direction of the gates. "Wha..? Guys...guys, we gotta go," he said hurriedly, starting away immediately at a run. Something was out there, but he didn't know how he knew. He had a feeling it was a creature with Madness inside it, but he'd never been able to sense it before, so he wasn't entirely sure.

Cross blinked. What the hell was going on? Shaking his head, he didn't question it when Boreas went off, but only followed behind. He was glad that Silence had healed them. He felt loads better than before. Yet for some reason, there was still this pulling sensation that he couldn't quite get rid of. It was bothering him to no end. He didn't have time to stop and think about it now, but later he'd ponder upon it more.

The creature kept hold of the whip, tightening it more and more until she saw a wave of fire coming towards her. She jumped back, the whip extending with her...only to get sliced in half by the fire. There was something that sounded like an angry scream, a noise that seemed mixed with a monster's and a woman's voice. Jumping off the dragon, the black armored creature just created another whip and flicked it to wrap around Hunter. If she got the ninja within her grasp, he would find himself being thrown across the ground rather roughly.

Batsu had felt it before now, so he followed Boreas without question. In fact he went ahead of the other makes, his wings beating as he took flight. For a brief moment he started with them but that didn't last long. Bursting out of the Unknown he saw Hunter get dragged to the ground by a whip. The grey eyed male didn't hesitate to intervene. Flying into the air he sent a supernova down at the creature. Batsu glanced around and then frowned as he saw the souls entering the Unknown. What they scared of this thing? Had it been the cause of their suffering? He turned his gaze to the woman. She had to be. From the memories of the souls she had killed them. Batsu bristled at the thought. "DK, Hunter, well done, we'll handle it from here on out." He could see that whatever this thing was it had caused them a great deal of trouble. He felt a bit guilty because of it. Had it not been for him ignoring the issue they wouldn't have gotten hurt. Sighing he focused on the problem at hand. It looked human. Could madness infect a human in such a way? Batsu want sure. All he knew was that he had to save this tormented soul.

DK hurried over to Hunter the moment Batsu had come to their rescue. The little dragon child was bruised and a red ring was around his neck from when the woman had used her whip. "Hunter, wake up," he urged the brown haired male. "Batsu and the others are here." Hunter looked as though he'd been through the grinder and DK was getting worried.

(Ready for a[nother] Naruto ripoff?)

The black armored creature turned back to the dragon once she'd tossed the human male around a bit. She was more interested in obtaining the head of the dragon. Not particularly for a trophy, but for a more gruesome reason altogether. The horn-like attachments to the top of her helmet sparked with a blue energy when she saw more creatures coming from the Unknown. Now that the dragon was gone, the red haired man that had just appeared seemed much more interesting to her. He had a better face than the other two. The blue spark turned into much more than that in a moment after Batsu appeared, creating a sphere of blue energy that crackled loudly between the two horn-like ears of the helmet. The creature took it between her hands easily, and calmly enough, but when she saw fire coming towards her, she whipped it forward. When the two forces collided, a huge explosion resounded, kicking up dust and gusts of wind all around. The creature aimed a whip for the spot she'd seen Batsu earlier, only to stop and jump to the side in a somersault when an arrow of ice flew past her.

Boreas stood with his ice bow out, drawing another arrow as he waited for the smoke to clear. He'd gotten out less than a minute after Batsu had, having made his ice wings to follow along. Cross came out soon after, though he couldn't see the creature they were attacking through all the smoke and dust that had kicked up. What kind of monster were they up against this time? Now that they were closer, Cross could feel the Madness seeping out of the monster in what seemed like tendrils, touching everything around it. While the raven haired male couldn't sense the Madness from far away, since that encounter with Oblivion, he'd been able to see the blackness of Madness in whatever creature was infected by it. And whatever they were fighting now...it was completely consumed and then some.

DK covered Hunter as the wind kicked up and then smiled when he saw Boreas come out filed by Cross. Great, everyone was here. The little dragon watched in anticipation as the smoke cleared. He was scared that they wouldn't win because the creature was different from the others they had encountered.

Batsu watched the female consumed in madness as she countered his attack. Grey eyes glowed for a brief moment before he saw the ice indirectly deflect the attack that was coming his way. Taking advantage of the distraction the winged male landed right in front of the black and blue creature and reached out to take a grasp on her. Just being this close made him wonder if he could draw madness from here without touching her.

Cross didn't quite believe that he was seeing right. Once the smoke cleared, he saw what looked like a female human consumed by madness. It wasn't like the other creatures. The other creatures had either been large enough for multiple people to take on, or small enough for it to be handled without a problem. But this one, this one Cross could immediately tell was different. Madness was swarming out of this one like bees out of a hive. And the moment he saw Batsu getting closer to the woman, that Madness lashed out at him and tried to latch on. Cross's eyes widened. "Be careful!"

Boreas's head turned in Cross's direction. It was the first time he'd heard the guy sound genuinely concerned about anyone other than Alice. Did that guy see something they didn't? Because it looked to him like Batsu was about to get the upper hand here. The moment the smoke cleared enough for him to see, he started having a different opinion, however, because it didn't seem as if the woman was giving up even though Batsu had a grip on her arm.

The moment the creature felt Batsu's hand on her arm, she tensed and dropped down, her knees almost touching the ground before launching herself forward, the two tips of her helmet poised to pierce into Batsu's midsection. She could have aimed for his neck, but it wouldn't behead him, and she didn't want to scar his face. Everyone she'd beheaded had no marks on their face from their struggles with her, and she would keep it that way.

(She's kinda strange)

Batsu didn't see what Cross saw. He just felt it. The madness was heavy and he had one goal when it came to it, withdraw it all. Taking into consideration the other winged male's warning, Batsu stepped back as the woman dropped to get knees. Batsu braced himself for the impact. Letting the one hit him, he grabbed her by the back and flipped her. Taking her to the ground he pulled on the madness. He was trying to move quickly, for he'd noticed how fast this woman was and how strong she was as well.

(Strange doesn't even start to cover it.)

Cross frowned, his jade eyes watching Batsu as he took the woman down. the Madness swarming from her was wrapping around Batsu in tendrils of black. While it looked to the others like the red haired male had this under control, Cross knew otherwise. This would not end well, but if he interfered, it could end even worse. Already the creature was thrashing about angrily, taking swipes at Batsu to try and get him to let her up. Before Cross had even realized it, there was a blue whip wrapped around Batsu's neck and each of the girl's hands were pulling on it from opposite directions.

The moment Boreas saw this, he had an arrow through one of her hands, not allowing her to tighten the grip of the weapon. She let go of the whip and it dissolved immediately, but now she was screaming in rage, and the arrow in her hand was already melting. In fact, the part in her hand almost immediately turned to steam, while the pieces of ice around it fell to the ground, gaining a wide eyed stare from Boreas.

In the next instant, Cross motioned the orange eyed male to Batsu's side, so each could hold one of the girl's arms down. It surprised Cross to see that she wasn't all that easy to hold down despite her slight build. In fact, before Boreas got a good hold on her arm, she'd managed to swipe the claws on her glove across the side of his face. After that, the ice chakra gained a grip on her arm and held it tightly, pulling on the Madness as best as he could. He wasn't entirely aware of how he was supposed to do it, so he was absorbing it clumsily at best.

Batsu was having a hard time holding the creature down. She was strong as hell and he was having to use the madness inside him as well as the madness he was withdrawing from her to keep her down. Even with her smashing at him, Batsu refused to let her go. Mainly because she was looked very much human beneath the madness. What if she was human and she had family waiting for her. The grey eyed male haired when the whip wrapped around his neck. For a moment he faltered, but then Boreas stepped in followed by Cross. Batsu nodded to them and got back to work. The more he withdrew the clearer it became that madness was infecting him. He was struggling to keep a grip as his feathers began to shed and his eyes turned red. "Why is there so much," he asked in a low growl. Batsu looked to the creature beneath him. What had driven this creature into such madness? How long had it been this way?

Cross glanced to Batsu at the guy's question. He didn't know why, but even though he was pulling on the Madness within this creature as well, it didn't seem like there was an end to it. She hadn't even changed form at all. In fact, the more Madness they pulled out of her, the more enraged she seemed to become, screaming in anger and continually trying to pull away from them. Whereas her arms had only been thrashing before, now her legs were as well, trying to kick at anything she could. Boreas thought that if she hadn't had the helmet on, she'd try biting at their faces or arms. Though, as the ice chakra pulled on the Madness, he started realizing what Batsu said earlier wasn't so far from the truth. Willingly pulling this stuff to himself was...both tiring, and unnerving.

Batsu finally decided to change the game plan. They were all pulling madness and it was going nowhere. They needed to find a way to wear her down. "You two, back off," Batsu spoke. "This is pointless. We can't stop get like this. Unless she's worn down or unconscious we don't stand a chance." He went silent for a moment. "Boreas, find Silence and let him know I'm coming." He looked to Cross. "Cross, grab Hunter and make sure he's okay, then take him into the Unknown and come back for me. In case this doesn't work, I'll need you to stop me." He hoped that Cross would understand what he was saying. He was taking this girl into the skies and like Kana he planned on withdrawing the madness or at least as much as he could and then he was going to exhaust her with a supernova.