"Oh, sorry!" Ferrus said, releasing Rebecca with a clank and a shunt. "Oh wow, we—we did it, though!" he turned to Weston and Selia. "You guys helped slay a monster, do you realize the enormity of what you've done?! You—you've obviously pioneered amazing magitek, some sort of amplifier, perhaps I could even improve on your own design! I specialize in weaponry, after all. Now, how about we lug this thing's corpse into the basement for future study, then go out for drinks to celebrate?"
the cutest lizard
Weist Town - Border - Noon
Niel went over to where the others were. "Hey, I helped defeat it, too," he said, wiping rainwater out of his eyes. "My wind changed distracted it, at least for a moment."
Gave them our reactions, our explosions, all that was ours For graphs of passion and charts of stars...
Attitude is prohibited
Weist Town - Border - Noon
"Ah - Wha - We - We did it!" Weston said, breathlessly, still holding Selia in his arms. "Selia! Selia we did it! We killed it! And - And my Amplifier! It worked!" He continued, with increasingly excitement. "It worked! It really worked! I knew it would! I - Selia?" He suddenly noticed that she wasn't responding. "Oh no..." He said, upon discovering that she was now unconscious. The wild grin quickly vanished from his face as dread started to form in the pit of his stomach. Thankfully, he was not alone, and that was about when Friedrich showed up.
"A doctor?" He said, his mind still somewhat foggy from all that had happened and was happening. "Oh! Yes! Over here! Help! Help!" He shouted. "I - Rebecca! Rebecca! Come quick!" He said, starting to panic, as he glanced over his shoulder at her. "She has a heart condition..." Weston said, anxiously, as the doctor came over. "Do you think... Is she going to be okay?"
A quick examination of the youth would reveal to Friedrich that, aside from some minor burns to her hand and forearm, she was perfectly fine, and thankfully, her heart was still beating. It's entirely possible she just over-exerted herself firing Weston's device... At any rate, it seems that Selia will be just fine. In the meantime, several of the town's buildings, many of which were housed residents taking shelter from the storm, were damaged or destroyed by the creature during its rampage. Doubtless, there are many poor souls trapped and injured by the debris...
Not entirely dead.
Attitude is prohibited
Takei City - Anilix - Noon
The clock-tower's elevator looked somewhat unsafe, but was certainly faster than taking the stairs. Innumerable gears groaned and clunked as Varlam had the machine power up. Hundreds of parts, hydraulics, boilers and cables, all came to life in a loud, inharmonious symphony of mechanical noise. The elevator, essentially just an open platform being moved up the tower by a few pulleys and a great many gears, rumbled the whole way up, occasionally hitting a point where it would shake rather violently for a few seconds. It was uncomfortably loud, bumpy and gave the impression that it was ready to fall apart at any given moment... But at least it was fast. The machinery began to slow as Varlam approached the top floor, and a packet of matches fell out of the box and onto his foot.
The tower's rooftop was even more precarious and worrying than the elevator, given that it was one of the highest points in the city and the already howling wind seemed even stronger at that height. The only thing keeping him from falling off, were he to slip, was a flimsy old guardrail that looked rusted and somewhat unstable. There was no sign of the man who handed him the fireworks, but through the sheets of rain and the darkness, Varlam would be able to spot the monster chasing someone else across the rooftops...
In fact, it was chasing Aisha, and it showed no sign of letting up any time soon. Chimneys tall and short, oddly shaped rooftops and even the occasional balcony, nothing stopped the creature's relentless pursuit. It seemed especially interested in Aisha, for some reason, even forgoing small groups of frighted people running through the streets in favour of her. Perhaps it was because she had magic, but perhaps it simply didn't like her...
Not entirely dead.
Drummer Boy
Weist Town-Border-Noon
"Don't worry about her." Friedrich takes a small tin of yellowish paste from inside his coat and rubs a little on the burns. "And if that's all, I'll be on my way."
He surveys the scene around him and stares at the kids, memorizing their faces in case the town wants to know about the damages done. "What the hell did you do, exactly?"
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
Ferrus' eyes widened as he flipped up his helmet's visor. "Heart condition? Hah! Easily treated! Anilix can craft you a superior prosthetic heart easily, and I'm pretty sure Circites are heartless anyway and have figured out how to go without them." In the back of his mind Ferrus considered stopping the constant interjections that he could help, but quickly silenced them. A true sir solves any and all problems he can. "Now come on," he called, "help me drag what's left of this slain behemoth into the basement. Examining the biology of somethhing so powerful could be extremely illuminating!"
THE SLORG!
Varlam wasn't too worried while riding up the elevator; it seemed mostly par for the course with Anilixian creations. When the match box fell out and landed on his foot, Varlam looked down a little surprised and picked it up. "Ah, stranger thought ahead" Varlam muttered to himself, smiling as the elevator reached the top.
When it did, Varlam stepped out cautiously, leaving the fireworks and match box just outside the elevator door for the moment. The elevator didn't worry him, but this rooftop seemed worse. Getting an idea though, Varlam moved around carefully, looking for whatever spot of the guard railing seemed most sturdy while still within line of sight of the monster. Once he had determined what spot that was, Varlam reeled out a length of wire on his grappling hook, and attached it to the base of the guard rail there.
Hoping that would be enough as a safety line, Varlam moved back to where he put the fireworks and matches, picking them up and moving to the edge. After making sure the fireworks would fire outwards away from him, Varlam hurriedly tried to get a match lit to set them off, glancing up to double check on what the monster was doing at the same time.
You are reading this.
Drummer Boy
Weist Town-Border-Noon
"Hey now, I'm sure some Circites have hearts. Oh, never mind. I was thinking about the border." Friedrich laughs harshly. "Let her lie down for a while. Rest."
He glances between Ferrus and the beast, wondering if the kid noticed the dying people everywhere.
"Have fun. Time for me to play with some squishy bits."
Friedrich goes to the nearest pile of rubble and starts trying to dig the people out. Hopefully, the townspeople that didn't get completely crushed will be helping soon, and then he can focus on treatment, not rescue.
edited 21st Jul '12 10:39:41 AM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
The Maid
Weist Town - Border - Noon
Rebecca started moving the moment Ferrus let her down, running over to inspect Selia before she started giving orders "Ferrus. You guard what remains of that monster. Weston stay with Selia... move her somewhere more comfortable"
With that she headed off into town to help with the rescue efforts, calling for her father's men and directing them "Spread out and look everywhere that monster went... Open then inn and try to set up improvised care room there, we'll bring the wounded there. Listen to what that man says" Instructs Rebecca, quickly indicating Friedrich.
Takei City - Anilix - Noon
Aileen continued her mad dash and escape... by now having her exhaustion catch up with her... she could barely move but still she pressed forward, the menace of death behind her making her reach into her deepest reserves of energy.
edited 21st Jul '12 5:26:19 PM by daltar
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Attitude is prohibited
Weist Town - Border - Noon
Weston, for one, did not at all appreciate the comments of Ferrus and Friedrich. Some of his best friends were of Circite origins, including the one he was holding in his arms at that very moment. He frowned, but tried to concentrate on the task at hand; Selia's well-being was more important than the divisive comments of outsiders. "Uh... Right, okay, I'll just... Just get her to safety, then..." He said, as it slowly dawned on him that he wasn't quite strong enough to just lift her up and carry her away like some storybook hero. Weston was not a very athletic young man, after all, spending most of his time indoors tinkering with or drawing up new projects. He awkwardly half-dragged half-carried her to his workshop - which, thankfully, was not far away. In the back of his mind, he started thinking about all the people who might have been hurt in the short time the monster was attacking. He started to worry about whether the town would be able to live through the damage, whether or not his friends were all alright... If his mother was okay... He started to feel a little sick with worry as he opened the door to his shop. At least you're okay... He thought, as he gently put Selia down on his small sofa.
Meanwhile, rescuing the townspeople should be mercifully easy, as only a few buildings were damaged or destroyed and most of them were fairly small. Removing the rubble and helping the survivors would be a fairly straightforward task... Nevertheless, there are still about a dozen people trapped in the various ex-buildings of the town, any number of whom could be injured or even dead. At least the town's policemen are still willing and able-bodied, though they're hardly equipped or trained for this kind of thing. The inn is quickly cleared of any uninjured people, though at least one person appears to have been killed in the chaos, and a make-shift triage centre is set up as quickly as possible, given the limited supplies of the town.
The building rubble Friedrich was investigating appears to have been vacant before it was destroyed, thankfully, so no-one was injured or killed by its collapse.
Not entirely dead.
Attitude is prohibited
Takei City - Anilix - Noon
The monster chases Aisha relentlessly, letting no obstacle slow it down for more than an instant, and giving her no time to recover. It had been getting very close, droplets of its foul appendages dissolving bits of Aisha clothes and stinging her skin, when suddenly, fireworks lit up the sky! Varlam's fireworks had successfully detonated, and were quite loud and colourful. The best stopped dead in its tracks, aborting it chase of Aisha to stare at the bright lights in the sky, seemingly entranced by them. Abruptly, it charges towards the clock tower, reaching the base and starting to climb the building almost immediately. Thankfully for Varlam, the monster climbs quite slowly, and the tower is tall... But shortly after gaining the creature's attention, the elevator fires up again and descends to the base of the tower, leaving him trapped at the top. Hopefully that's the stranger coming to follow through with the plan, or else things have taken a turn for the very grim.
Not entirely dead.
Drummer Boy
Weist Town-Border-Noon
Well, that was a waste of time. He leaves the ruins of the vacant building.
Friedrich makes sure there are enough people working on each destroyed building and heads to the inn to fetch his full kit from his room and tend to the wounded. What are those kids going to do with that dead thing? It'll probably start stinking up wherever they keep it in a few days, anyway.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
Ferrus nodded at Rebecca's command and stood at attention near the creature's corpse. He would occasionally wave an arm at people who got to close, but it was an overall easy job. He absently wondered about what the thing was made of, and why it would attack the Border. Most likely someone trying to instigate a long-anticipated war—a perfect time to fell the horrific Circium society, all Law and domination, ruled by an ancient council of immortals obsessed with looking young. The venerables of Anilix showed their age with prosthetics, they were true elders, because they wore their seniority with pride! A creature like the one he stood over, a creature whose death was its most major change, stunk of Circite crimes against nature. And yet, that Rebecca girl was a Mage and seemed nice enough, and Selia performed the killing blow on the monster. They weren't from Circium though; Circium's horror was endemic to its society, that was why Rebecca and Selia were okay.
"Rebecca! Where is that inventor boy?" Ferrus yelled with an accompanying point, snapping out of his introspection. "This needs to get out of the street and into his workshop for inspection now so I can help clear the rubble!"
The Maid
Weist Town - Border - Noon
Rebecca who was still helping the search and rescue barely took time to turn back and answer Ferrus' question "In his workshop! That big building over there"
Takei City - Anilix - Noon
Aileen dropped to the floor the moment she saw the creature stop chasing after her. Now it was chasing some fireworks... for some reason she couldn't understand. All she knew right now was that she was dead tired and could barely even think of moving.
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Ferrus nodded, slammed his helmet down, and hooked his hands around the hole in the monster's corpse as a handle. Letting out an enormous roar, he began to drag it back to Weston's shop. "Fire magic was the only thing capable of destroying it—hrrgh! I bet it could be excellent combat armor against traditional military! It seems—rather heavy! Though maybe that's because this armor is in need of some serious repairs! Haaargh!!"
Attitude is prohibited
Weist Town - Border - Noon
The storm was subsiding, but it was still raining out, albeit much more lightly than before, and Weston had been looking forward to drying off. Selia was all wet too, but she was also still out cold, so all he could do was put the fire on and get a towel under her. He changed hurriedly, putting on mismatching shoes in the rush, and set out to go find his mother after checking on Selia one last time. He opened the door, and much to his surprise, he saw Ferrus slowly dragging the monster's corpse towards his shop.
"What are you doing?" He said, rather confused, as he briskly walked over to the man. "Why are you moving that thing? Where are you..?" He noticed the direction Ferrus was moving in, and glanced at his workshop before looking back at Ferrus in horror. "Not my shop, I hope!" He said. "I don't want this horrible, dead abomination-thing hanging around me!" He glanced down at the slain beast, the memory of facing it down with Selia all too fresh in his mind. "Besides... That'll never fit through the door! And - And Selia's in there! What if she wakes up and sees it in the building!" It was pretty clear that Weston doesn't want the monster's body in his workshop, but he knew that his little shop was probably the most sensible place to study it from. "Just - Just haul it around the back, if you really must." He said, resignedly and with a sigh, after a moment of consideration.
"I can't help you, though - I have to find my mother!" He started off again, but looked back over his shoulder and said "Don't try to bring it inside, though! I mean it!"
Not entirely dead.
"That's fine. I just wanted to examine this thing with the help of a fellow man of science!" Ferrus explained, undaunted by Weston's distress. He turned around and continued dragging the corpse, this time around back. "You wouldn't happen to have a cellar, would you?"
THE SLORG!
"Uh oh" Varlam muttered in a tone more apathetic than one might expect when he saw the monster start climbing. He mostly said it because it seemed like the thing one should say in a situation like this, rather than fear. Not to say he wasn't feeling any fear, but it was currently being overrode with determination.
Still, Varlam knew that if the thing got up to him, it would all be over for him. He'd have to slow it down, or maybe get away from it. Scaling down the outside of the building would be possible with his grappling hook, but would be going right towards the monster; Varlam figured that even scaling down the opposite side wouldn't be enough of a guarantee to get away.
Varlam did, at the very least, have an idea to slow it down. Possibly for only a second at most, but every moment counted in situations like this. Varlam threw the empty fireworks crate down at the monster with all his strength, then turned and moved towards the elevator entrance without even waiting to see the result of his tactic. If the elevator doorway was still open, Varlam would glance inside and downwards, considering the idea of sliding down one of the cables to fake out the monster.
edited 24th Jul '12 5:15:39 AM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
Attitude is prohibited
Weist Town - Border - Noon
"Sorry!" Weston called back, as he ran off. "No such luck!" The workshop's backyard was, much like the shop itself, messy and covered with bits and pieces of various abandoned, exploded or unfinished projects scattered haphazardly about. Still, finding room for the armoured serpent would be no problem, even given the beast's mass.
Takei - Anilix - Noon (due to time constraints, certain events have been accelerated)
Thankfully for Varlam, the elevator was already on its way up, and it appears that the stranger did indeed follow through with his end of the plan. A large sack slung over his shoulder, he was at the top of the tower in no time at all. "Ah ha!" He said, upon seeing Varlam. "You did it, boy! Excellent work! Now we have the foul beast right where we want it!" With care, he proceeded out of the elevator and along the slippery, wet rooftop, making his way over to the guardrail and peering over the edge at the creature.
Wasting no time, the stranger produced what appeared to be a large, stone sphere with a long fuse coming out of it. "Stuffed with explosives." He said to the youth, as he patted the bomb. "But not enough to break down the building... Hopefully it's still enough to slay this thing." And with that, he produced a lighter from one of the pockets of his long coat, and lit the fuse. "Geronimo!" He hollered, as he tossed the explosive over the edge.
It sunk into the monster's body, with the thing hardly seeming to notice, and then, with a flash and a bang that shook the entire tower, at least half the creature was splattered and gone, revealing a dark, gelatinous mass beneath its muddy 'skin'. But the creature, now half its previous size, kept going, struggling on, determined to consume its adversaries. "Blast!" Swore the stranger. "Looks like I'll have to throw anther... The risk of structural damage to the tower increases with every bomb, you see, but our deaths are certain if we sit here and do nothing!" He quickly pulled another bomb from out of his sack, lit it, and threw it over the edge once more. The explosive landed in the creature's black, gelatinous interior and obliterated it, shaking the tower quite violently, and leaving a hole in its front.
"Curses!" Said the man, as the tower began to creak and groan. "That explosion must have damaged important supports! We must leave immediately - there's a good chance the tower may collapse!" He dashed into the elevator. "Come on, boy! Hurry! Unless you have a faster way down?"
Not entirely dead.
Ferrus cleared—smashed—a clear way through the wreckage in Weston's yard and laid the corpse down, then headed into Weston's shop. "One last thing! My armor's busted, I need to get it off before I go to help out with the survivors; you have anywhere safe I can put that down? I'm already in trouble with the town for shanking an armor thief and don't want to take risks."
THE SLORG!
Varlam watched the stranger dispose of the monster, letting out an impressed "Wow!" as the monster blew up. As the building started to shake and the stranger asked about a faster way down, Varlam looked at the grappling hook on his arm. "Could use this, but don't think it could hold us both" Varlam said, detaching the hook from the railing in case they were going to use the elevator instead.
You are reading this.
Attitude is prohibited
Takei - Anilix - Noon
"What ever is faster, boy, but you must hurry! Either come with me or use that device of yours - either way, we must leave immediately!" Regardless of Varlam's decision, the stranger would be riding the elevator back down. Whatever the means, the escape was narrow, with the both of them reaching the ground shortly before the tower collapsed in on itself in a chaotic pile of dust and rubble.
In the chaos, a blob of the dark, gelatinous material formed from the creatures remains. Curiously, its mud-like 'skin' did not reform, and it seemed to 'deflate' somewhat, maintaining a curious shape as it slowly expelled the lifeless bodies of its victims. The monster appears to be dead, and this was its corpse.
"Boy!" The stranger shouted, coughing in the dust. "Where are you, boy?"
Weist Town - Border - Noon
Unfortunately for Ferrus, Weston had run off by then and was out of earshot. Nevertheless, there was a tool-shed in the yard, kept closed by a simple padlock that still had the key in it. Weston's shed was, perhaps, not the most secure location, but by simply taking the key with him, Ferrus could ensure that his armour was at least behind a locked door.
edited 27th Jul '12 5:56:18 PM by Blackfire667
Not entirely dead.
Ferrus sighed and locked his armor and shield in the shed, pocketing the key. The building looked inconspicuous enough that it wouldn't draw undue attentiom, he supposed. Freed of his burden and back in his overalls, Ferrus legged it out to the wreckage of Weist Town, calling out for people trapped in the rubble.
THE SLORG!
Varlam nodded to the stranger, then reattached his grappling hook to the railing and quickly vaulted over. From there he rappelled down the side of the building quickly, hitting the button to remotely detach the grappling hook once he reached the bottom. As it reeled in, Varlam stepped away from the building as it collapsed, holding his arms above his head and shutting his mouth and eyes tightly.
Once the collapsing had stopped, Varlam stood up and tried to wipe away most of the dust off his face. He moved towards the rubble and noticed the corpses being expelled from the dead monster; the sight was quite a shock to him. Varlam wasn't completely new to death; he'd seen stray animals die, and heard about the orphans that would get sick then fail to wake up one morning. But this was the first time he'd really seen dead people in person. "Over here!" Varlam responded to the stranger, still not looking away from the bodies. "Is the people monster ate. Are they all dead?" he added, too disturbed to actually check for himself.
Part of Varlam realized that the lady from Circium wasn't among the dead bodies, but he didn't comment on it yet.
You are reading this.
Weist Town - Border - Noon
Rebecca could barely recover from the sight of the monster's demise when suddenly she was enveloped in the embrace of a metal man and lifted right off the floor "Hmmmg... S-Ser... P-please... you are squishing me"
Takei City - Anilix - Noon
She ran and she ran... like a cat chased by a whole pack of dogs. Aileen moved with unnatural grace and agility, making jumps that would be impossible for a normal human... but still the monster kept coming after her.
She could not risk a spell so she just ran... looking for parts of the maze which was this great city which would at least stop or be a barrier to the monster. Problem was... not a whole lot seemed to be capable of causing such a thing.
edited 21st Jul '12 5:26:04 PM by daltar
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.