with a murderous group of robots on the loose in izanagi, hex figured that there would be plenty of heroes running around the town ready to take them down and grab whatever loot they dropped. instead though, as the caster looked through the list of people looking for groups, she didn't find a single one pertaining to this specific bounty. that was strange. she was hoping she could ride the coattails of a bigger group and grab some easy loot, but that didn't seem to be the case here.

it looked like if she wanted to take down the robots, she'd have to find someone around the town willing to help her. maybe even someone who was planning on doing it and just hadn't posted up that they were looking for a group. one thing was for sure, though, she wasn't going to take on the fearsome five by herself. the woman could admit that she could be kind of crazy, but she wasn't crazy in the death wish sorta sense.

just as she was about to close the menu and look for a player around town, a notification appeared from a man named catharsis looking for someone to help take them down. without even looking at the player's class, hex quickly accepted the request and typed up a quick private message to the other player. "i'm here, where are you?"

with his question to her, hex assumed that he was neither an attacker or a defender himself. two utilities. this was going to go well. the caster regretted not paying more attention when she joined the guy's party. well, whatever, they would get there one way or another. there was no way that this was going to be the end. if necessary, she run as fast and as far as she could, hopefully getting away from the machines. and hopefully he'd be able to get away, too.

"that's me," she started, putting a hand on her hip and looking at the boy. he didn't look very capable of taking on five robots, but then again, she supposed neither did she. "i wish i did, but sadly can't say i do." it was them against the world, or at least it was them against the fearsome five. two utilities against five killing machines? seemed fair.

hex turned away from the man to search in the darkness around him. "so where are they?"

the sound of metal sliding against brick made the ear's atop hex's head perk up higher. "i guess you were right..." the caster muttered looking down the alleyway in which the sound echoed from. there was a fear in her, one she wouldn't openly admit. how were two players of utility classes supposed to take on five killing machines? hex prayed to the gargantuan gods that whatever was making that sound in the alley wasn't the fearsome five. maybe it would just be some sort of stray animal wandering where it didn't belong, but no matter how long she stared into the darkness, she still saw nothing.

pulling her attention away from the alleyway, she turned her eyes to catharsis. "should we investigate?" as much as she wanted the answer to be no, maybe the man was braver than she. whatever was done there, she didn't want to fight. some part of her wished the five would never arrive. while the woman wanted the loot, was putting her life on the line really worth it. the game was too cruel making a bounty of five.

hex pulled out her broom from its place on her back and held the stick tightly in both of her hands. if catharsis went in, she would follow, but there was no way she was going to make the first move.

at the sound of his agreement, the woman's spirits raised, if only by a bit. hex came to stand behind catharsis, using his body as a sort of shield in case anything should happen. she was probably too close for his comfort, but if he didn't like it, he could just push her back. she'd gladly be as far away from the battle as possible.

only a few steps had been taken when an arrow whizzed past the two of them, the fearsome had already been located. or they had located them, she should say. the caster didn't have sights on the bounties, but all the same the fight had started. with the broom that she had gripped tightly in her palms, she smacked the stick into the ground as fast as she could, waves of flames erupting from each hit to the ground. "a slight damage buff." hex whispered a short explanation of the skill to her comrade. "if you can deal any damage, that is."

she could almost feel the heat of the flames coating her skin as she too was buffed by the skill. while the woman didn't usually use the buff herself, it seemed like today would be one of those days. if she didn't help, this most likely would never end.

with the man's long whistle, hex covered her ears with her hands, just wanting to hear the shrill noise at full blast. what was he even doing? some sort of skill? the woman didn't have to wait long for her answer as a shadow appeared from the sky followed by the flapping of wings. a dragon landed on the two buildings that created the alleyway and hex knew that it had to be his mount.

as he jumped up, her offered her a ride atop the dragon too, but hex wasn't so sure she should take it. though she didn't have much she could do on land, she knew she'd be even more useless on the dragon. without any ground to form her abilities on, she wouldn't be able to cast. then there was the fact that her basic attacks involved her smacking things with her broom, she couldn't really do that from the sky...

but how could she pass up on opportunity to ride on a dragon? she damn well couldn't. the barrier that the man had placed up was surely going to break soon. she threw her hand up in the air in catharsis' direction, "help me up!"

hex felt bad for asking after the man had already began his journey towards the saddle of the dragon, but not bad enough to change her mind. she grabbed his hand tightly in hers to pull herself up behind him. the caster knew the barrier broke by the arrow that flew into the man's shoulder. she looked down at the five below and hurried to follow the man onto the saddle of the dragon. it had been long enough for hex to get used to all the strange creatures in gargantua, but she'd never before been on top of a dragon. this was a first for her, and it was a thrilling experience.

even though she was excited, she knew that this wasn't exactly the appropriate time for it. sliding behind catharsis on the mount, she asked a simple, "can i hold on to you?" from her position, she had no where to hold, and she didn't want to fall. that would almost be a worse fate than dying to the fearsome five.

"so, uh, what are we gonna do now?"

hex wondered how she'd even missed the seat belts that were positioned across the saddle of the mount. that seemed the better option of the two, so she scooted back from the man and buckled herself into the nearest belt. as she was checking to make sure she was secure, he yelled out a warning. without any time to react, the dragon lifted up to release an attack onto their enemies below them. nearly losing her broom as the dragon swung back, she tighten her grip on the stick to make sure it didn't fall from her hands. without her weapon, she was useless. even with her weapon, she was useless on the back on this dragon, but she definitely wasn't going to be standing in that alleyway by herself with catharsis safely on the back on his mount.

"well that was sure convenient," the woman noted as the attack took down three of the five. if the two of them couldn't do any damage, at least there was the dragon there to support them. soon, though, the woman was swallowing her words as the metal heaps began to repair themselves until they were once more whole again. "or maybe not." she paused for a second before watching the once dead robots begin to attack at them once more. "how are we supposed to kill them if they just repair?" it was a useless question to ask as the man didn't know the answer either. if wouldn't have laughed if he didn't.

the fight was beginning to seem more and more pointless. from this position she couldn't do anything, but even if she were down there, the results would probably be the same. maybe the saddle was enough for the woman to use to project her attacks, but before doing anything, she'd wait to see the man's next move. maybe he had another trick up his sleeve.