Afton quickly but carefully slices through the pile of Ghosts and pulls Veronica out of it... Right into another horde of flaming Ghosts who quickly charge straight at her. She retaliates with a punch, sending one back into the fiery hellscape that Dean had created but is pushed back by the sheer numbers of them.

Apparently, one of the downsides of using fire is the smoke it produces... Combine that with the smoke detectors scattered around the place and you've got a shitstorm coming! ​​

*DUUDUUDUUUDUUDUUDUUDUUDUUDUU!*

"Fuck!" Afton exclaims as more and more Ghosts come crawling out of the woodwork... He was sure there were some even from the bell tower coming here, reinforcing the already sizeable horde!

"JUST!"

*SLASH!*

"FUCKING!"

*CRACK!*

"DIE!!"

"THUDD!*

Three hours of this pass with both Afton and Veronica fighting almost nonstop... Veronica was exhausted and on her last legs, while Afton was mentally tired from the whole ordeal. The fight had gone on for so long that the toughest thing about it was keeping the flames stoked so they could toss the dismembered bodies into it to finish them off.

Dean had already fallen asleep on the top of the roof judging by his loud snoring (which also served to attract more Ghosts), so Afton was left continually chipping away at their numbers...

Fortunately, by now the horde was nearing its end. With only a few Ghosts occasionally crawling out of the vents, sewers, and alleyways, Afton was sure there were none left around this area to bother them.

Though, he was somewhat worried about the burning corpses... They didn't burn like regular materials. Instead of releasing smoke, they released the Cloud when burned... The corrosive fog slowly gets blown away from the area, but it just provides yet another hazard for him to worry about.

He stomps down onto a Ghosts head before tossing it into the fire with the rest of its kin, taking a deep breath while glancing around for more... Only to realise that the earlier Ghost was the last one remaining...

"FINALLY!" he exclaims, causing another hand to poke out of a manhole nearby... With a growl he picks the Ghost up by the scruff of its clothing and tosses it into the fire without even slashing it first, allowing it to toss and turn while still attempting to attack then.

He walks over to Veronica and lends her his shoulder just as she's about to stumble to the floor, exhaustion quickly overtaking her. "You alright? Last time you looked like this we were surrounded by Legionaries." he jokes.

Veronica shakes her head with a snort, "Legionaries don't grow their heads, limbs, and bodies back. Nor are they anywhere near as fast as these things... Let's just hope that's the last of them, otherwise I'm going on strike." she states, pushing off of Afton and standing on her own weakly.

Afton glances around for Dean and notices the Ghoul still sleeping, so he snaps off the handle of an axe that throws it at him, the wooden scrap performing a parabola before striking him clean in the forehead.

"Ouch! The fuck was that!?" Dean angrily yells out.

Afton ignores him though and just pumps his fist in the air, afterwards giving Veronica a high-five. "Oh, sorry mate! Looks like a Ghost had it in for you and tossed something!"

Dean sits up and looks down at the now-empty clearing, "Yeah, looks like it..." he mutters, slowly getting up and climbing down. "Good work dealing with those Ghosts, team." he smirks, "It was a good team effort."

Veronica scoffs, "Team effort huh? I'll remember that if I see someone winning big in New Vegas... What now?" she asks after a moment.

Dean nods his end towards the gated area, still illuminated with a number of rusty electrical switches. "Now, we wait there while one of you heads to the bell tower to activate the Gala... They need to be pulled in a specific order, but I doubt I'm strong enough to do it alone... That's what HE needed Dog for the last time." he states.

Afton shrugs, "It falls on me then..." he says after some easy deduction. Veronica was still tired from the earlier fight, and Dean was required here... Which left him to start the Gala. "You two wait here, I'm assuming it'll be easy to tell once I'm done."

Dean sagely nods, "Indeed, it'll be like a New Years fireworks display, the angelic voice of Vera Keyes will invite us inside, and music will blare from the casino..." he hums with a smile before it drops into a frown... "Of course, the racket will cause every Ghost, Goblin, and Ghoul within one hundred miles of here to head to the casino, so be ready to fight for your entry ticket."

Afton sheepish rubs the back of his helmet, yeah, he'd forgotten that the casino would basically be under siege as soon as the Gala Event started... By the time they collected Christine and Anja, the place would be swarming with them... He wasn't even sure if the defence systems could identify between Ghosts and regular people. Judging by how the Holograms attacked him earlier, he doubted they had such a capability. "Right, well, I'll be off." he gives a mock salute before jogging away at a tame pace.

Once he was out of the clearing he thrust his palm at a nearby rooftop and produced a plant-whip which grappled one of the railings, allowing him to begin to swing across the street like Spider-Man... Obviously, he only had one plant arm though, so he was pretty limited in his 'swinging' ability.

One thing he appreciated though was the plant arms ability to reintegrate material that'd been created, allowing him to suck the whip in and pull himself around like a grappling hook. If he couldn't steal from Spider-Man, he certainly could Batman