GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

Cat tensed for a brief moment when Papilion's hand touched the back of his shoulder, but he relaxed almost immediately. To most, the reaction could probably just be chalked up to raw nerves from the scenery coupled with surprise. It wasn't, but well, appearances really were everything. He cast a small smile at Papilion as he listened to her explanation and watched the golden glow. He knew how to work quickly.

He opened the door, leaning slightly over the desk that was in the way - it was a smart move - to turn the handle and push it outward. He almost sighed in relief when he didn't see any zombies, but frowned instead. Right there in the center of his line of sight, at the back of the room and in front of some windows, he saw some robed dude who was probably a mage. Well, okay. Cat didn't really wait for anything else, just drawing up an opaque barrier to essentially cut the room in half, assuming he'd be safe that way before vaulting over the desk. "I think he's the boss? Mini boss? We'll have to kill him, but wait a sec ..."

He didn't leave room on whether or not Papilion could hear him over the clash of dark energy magic hitting his barrier in a fury, set on making good use of her buff while he could. Sure enough, stepping far enough in the room had a familiar click meet his ears, and even as he barreled back a dark cloud of poisonous energy started to bloom from where his foot had just been, reaching him in no time.

Thankfully, he was still under the woman's buff as he moved to step out of the range of the cloud trap. "We should watch our step, I guess." He'd assumed as much. Anytime he'd run into magic users without reinforcement, there'd been some kind of trap or trick up their sleeves.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

He hadn't expected her to follow him, but was glad when he saw she was floating above the poisonous cloud. At least he could focus on healing himself if he got caught by one - maybe. If he kept being lucky, and she didn't get herself hit. His own barrier was starting to crack under the pressure, so there wasn't any time to disagree. "If you can keep him distracted without getting hurt, there might be something I can do if I can get close." He said.

It was a risk, but what wasn't in the wonderful world of BWO?

As soon as the poison cloud dissipated for certain, Cat was already moving. It might be the best plan, but considering they were both utilities they just had to hope it was good enough. At least now he had a better eye for what the traps looked like, and didn't have to worry about Papilion tripping any herself. They might actually have a chance, but it was a small window. He'd need to actually be able to get close enough, and right now he was hugging the side of the wall waiting for Papilion to take the opening and make her move.

The barrier shattered.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

Catharsis wasn't sure about this, but Papilion was doing her part and hadn't done anything to hurt him, so he wasn't about to back down now. If this didn't work, there was a chance he could die. His heart raced in his chest as he neared the necromancer from behind, frowning as he saw her nearly get hit by the attack before it just went right through her with no damage to her health bar. It was a fancy trick, and he was damn impressed, but he got the distinct feeling he shouldn't count on that happening too often if she relied on her poison breath to immobilize enemies first.

He increased his rounding of the walls to come up behind the mage, and wasted no time once he got in range, punching the mage in the shoulder, the force more intended to turn him around to face him instead of Papilion. The moment he did, he followed up by grabbing the guy by the throat, initiating a cathartic grasp. Almost instantaneously, health started to sap from the enemy into his own body through his wrist. The necromancer attacked him, and that fucking hurt, but the constant leeching of life into himself helped to mitigate the drain on his own health bar. Even as one of those tentacles wrapped around his arm and burned at him, he moved to keep his hand in place, even gripping with both hands. His slow health drop was fair and equal in exchange for that of the necromancer's, especially considering he wasn't alone. It wasn't ideal, but with heals on his side, he should survive this fight as long as he could maintain his grapple on the guy.

At least, that was the case up until a bony hand latched around his ankle, causing him to wince as his health took a small but sharp drop that wasn't the slow drain he'd been ready to accommodate. In his desperation, the caster had summoned four undead minions, and that wasn't good for Cat. At least they'd definitely found the source of the problem.

He winced, glancing over the enemy's shoulder at Papilion with a hopeful gaze before he reached up to cover his mouth and nose with his free hand, hoping the trade for a more tenuous grasp would prove worth it if she got the message. He was really, really hoping that if they took out the mage the undead would disappear, but first, he needed the additional damage from the minions off of his flank. However Papilion chose to handle this, he had no choice but to trust her judgment.

GIVE ME ALL YOUR ENERGY
LOVE ME LIKE AN ENEMY

Papilion's efforts worked like magic. It was only when the zombies and the necromancer fell limp that he realized the pulse thrumming fastest in his wrists was his own, his heartbeat hammering away in his chest. His expression had probably been, aside from his eyes, as steady and calm as ever. It was a remnant of his life before the game to lock into something impassive until the danger was over.

Between the enemies being disabled and Papilion's final touch to keep his own health from rapidly deteriorating, Catharsis was free again to clamp both hands over the main target's throat and finish the job, relieved when the mage finally burst into pixels. Once he was gone, his summons followed. Cat didn't really think, just yet, on whether or not that meant all the zombies in the mansion had done so or not. The rush over, he shook his hands to try to hide the fact that they were trembling, flashing a smile at his companion. "Will you look at that? We're finally free - in the short-term sense of it."

He cast her a grateful look, before looking down just as quickly. Dusting himself off, it was more about grounding himself back down when he kept talking, "I knew you'd pull through. Thanks for doing this with me." With his luck, this quest had actually been smoother than he'd come to expect. He wouldn't mind running into her again, he'd already decided. She was easier to party with than some attackers he'd met.