The Day They Became Real

Sensing his opportunity to strike now that Yuuji stepped away, Jeremy dashed forwards and pounced on Lufia in an attempt to pin her to the ground, grabbing the girl by the neck. Regardless, the deathclaw glared at his target, deciding to channel his frustration into his following words.

"You have exactly ten seconds to explain all of this. Choose your words very carefully, human, lest they be your last." he growled, baring his teeth slightly, his tone cold, calculated, and yet as bestially threatening as ever.

"Ten."

"Nine."

"I.

Am.

NOT.

HUMAN!!

DEVASTATION WAVE! Lufia shouted, and waves of dark, life-weakening magic coursed through Jeremy's deathclaw body.

edited 6th Apr '16 7:21:23 PM by Sijo

Junon just chuckled as Lufia had an emotional outburst and blasted Jeremy with dark magic. What kind of god would throw a tantrum like that?! Aren't gods supposed to set an example for the rest of their followers?

When this clears up, Junon is going to have plenty of interesting stories to tell at the lab. Boy those looks on those faces will be so worth it. After a minute or two, Junon stifled her laughter and spoke up.

"With that little outburst, I'm not so sure that you're a god. I'm beginning to think you're just a bratty child who happened to born with the right powers."

Her motive for saying that is unknown. Did she say that to distract Lufia? Did she say that as a genuine opinion? Who knows? Junon's mind is a mystery. At one moment, she could be talking about something irrelevant. At another moment, she could take things seriously.

edited 8th Apr '16 4:01:56 PM by josh6243

Yuuji got blasted off with a scream, and the young girl's voice got carried for quite the distance. She landed with a solid -THUD-, and hit her head on the pavement below. The girl was sprawled across the floor on her stomach, feeling dizzy and pained from the sudden collision. She attempted to get back up, feeling some minor bruises and scrapes all around her body. "Urgh..." she complained, being wobbly on her feet. She'd managed to pull out the blade in time, but couldn't keep a solid grip on it as it flew somewhere else entirely.

With slightly below-average vision Yuuji scanned the area. It took her at least a minute to find the blade, knocked dangerously close to Lufia. The teenager cursed under her breath, she needed that weapon damnit! Adrenaline coursed through their body, and she dashed off to go and grab it. Once close enough, Yuuji made a dive for her blade and recovered by rolling across the floor... Which, unfortunately, put her only a few meters behind Jeremy and thus, withing the woman's sight.

"Wrong answer." Jeremy dryly retorted, wincing in pain, but holding on as he slammed Lufia against the ground a couple times for good measure."

"Eight. Seven. Six."

Unfortunately, while Jeremy managed to hurt Lufia even more, he also ended up yanking her free from the wool trap. She wasted no time shouting,

"LIGHTNING BOLT!"

Thousands of volts would now strike the albino Deathclaw.

Meanwhile, inside the bus, Alicia saw Iris began to use some kind of... well, it looked like a fork with wires to her- to begin fixing Damien's body, whom they had laid over a seat. Feeling useless in here, she went back outside, in time to catch sight of Jeremy getting electrocuted too.

edited 8th Apr '16 6:07:33 PM by Sijo

"Don't do that, you bloody idi-" The Deathclaw was cut mid-sentences as the electricity hit him, roaring in pain as the voltage coursing through him made all of his muscles contract uncontrollably. Which included the lizard's overdeveloped hands and their quintets of razor sharp claws closing on themselves with metal-crushing strength, one of which was already tightly wrapped around Lufia's throat to begin with.

Damien didn't act or respond much as he was dragged into the bus and Iris began operating. He vaguely began to feel some sensation return to his limbs, but for the time being he had been felled with a single blow.

He felt so weak.

"G-Gaak" was all Lufia could say, as she began to choke under her own crushed armor. And yet she still stubbornly fought on: she began to hack at Jeremy's claws with her sword, backed by her inhuman strength. Blood and scales began to fly off his scaly limbs.

Despite this, it was obvious that she was on her last legs.

edited 9th Apr '16 6:58:57 PM by Sijo

"Enough!" Jeremy roared out in rage as he kept on choking the girl pinned beneath him, this time fully intentional, returning the blows with his free hands, slashing at Lufia's sword arm and sides wildly to finally get her to stop.

As Iris operated on Damien inside of the bus, Marcia was silently praying that Damien would make it out alive. He made it out alive when he was wounded during that battle against that dragon. He made out alive against the Nazi T-Rex. A simple electrocution spell won't take him out that easily, right?

Junon was watching Jeremy clawing the living hell out of Lufia after Jeremy told Lufia to stop. Lufia was clearly on her last leg even as she hacked off a few scales from Jeremy's. If this is what he was capable of, Junon is real glad that Jeremy is on the group's side.

edited 10th Apr '16 2:04:36 PM by josh6243

"I'll-bring you- down-WITH ME!" Lufia managed to gasp, then literally glowed with energy. And suddenly-

ka-BLAMM!!

She literally exploded right under Jeremy, knocking him on his back and badly burning him. Of the 'goddess of death' only a smoking crater was left.

The blast was inevitable. Jeremy didn't have the time to react as the explosion sent him meters away, landing flat on his back. His scaly hide saved him from the worst of the burn, but it still hurt badly regardless; The cuts on his arms painting his white scales red didn't help matters, even if the heat of the blast helped with cauterizing a few of the wounds somewhat.

All he could do for now was just lay there, gazing emptily at the sky, all of his senses drowned out by the tinnitus flooding his ears; The adrenaline flooding through his veins, and the pain from the gashes making it pour out of them, were the only things that made him hold onto consciousness.

The explosion took Alicia as much by surprise as everyone else. She recoiled, then when the smoke cleared, looked at the crater. No trace of Lufia there. Had she actually- committed suicide!? She had not wanted for her to die. Nothing could be done about it now, tough.

Then she saw Jeremy lying on his back, a few yards away. "Oh God JEREMY!" she cried out, and ran to his side. The sight of his burns and gashes on his body was terrible. Of course, not being familiar with his reptilian form, she had no idea if he was badly hurt or not.

"Jeremy! Can you hear me??" she called out to him desperately. At least, she noticed, he was alive.

"I think he will live" a voice said behind Alicia. Yep, it was Iris. God, Alicia hated her nonchalant attitude. "Deathclaws are pretty hard to kill. Still, I brought some medpacks, since our alchemist seems to be out of potions. By the way, Marcia, you can find lots of chemicals in my bus' bin, you should go make more healing potions, we might need them" she said to the girl, even as she began applying what appeared to be plastic patches to Jeremy's body. Those must the 'medpacks', she guessed.

"Is Damien-" Alicia began to ask, but Iris interrupted her: "He's OK. I'm not done fixing him yet, I just ran out when I heard the explosion. Oh and don't feel too bad for Lufia. I see now that she never was a Changed Person; she must have been planted into your team from the start."

"Planted by WHOM?" a furious Alicia asked. She was tired of these life-and-death games. She wanted answers NOW!

"In a moment, dear. Every time I try to tell you their identity, something happens. You think that's a coincidence? No, they don't want to you to find out. Let's wait until we are all inside the bus. It'll be safer there."

edited 11th Apr '16 1:15:59 PM by Sijo

"...Is it over?"

Felix poked his head back into the bus, pointing his wand around the corner like it was a rifle. He looked absolutely terrified.

"Because if it's over, I have SEVERAL questions..."

Boom.

Damien would have jumped in fear but he possessed no limbs, as Iris dropped her tools and ran outside. He tried to flex his limbs, and was surprised when his right leg came to life - a bit down on its luck, but still fully operational.

Good. That was one of four. He tried to look outside, but where he was lying he couldn't see a thing, and one leg wasn't really enough to stand back up on. No matter how hard he tried.

"Shit, uh... everyone okay?" There was a slight waver in his voice, but he needed to stay strong. He couldn't let on how weak he was.

Unless he had to.

Marcia

Marcia looked around the bus in panic when she heard the explosion outside. Something big must have happened! When Marcia heard the news from Iris, she jumped up in joy. Finally, there were potion ingredients available for Marcia! She quickly opened the bin and started to make as many healing potions with the ingredients given to her.

For Marcia, it was sheer bliss as she mixed the ingredients from the bin mixed into a healthy green liquid. Marcia was so caught up in mixing, she didn't notice Felix peeking her head into the bus to ask an important question. After she finished, Marcia noticed Damien slowly getting up.

"D-damien, you're alive!"

Although she kept her distance from Damien, it was clear that Marcia cared about Damien. She wanted to give Damien a hug, but she didn't want to make his injuries worse. Damien had just asked if she was alright, and she just nodded.

"Y-yeah, I'm, um, alright..."

Junon

In the meantime, Junon watched Jeremy get patched up by Iris. That explosion clearly did a number on that Deathclaw. If only she had some healing magic, she would speed things up. Oh, well. We all can't be good at everything. Seeing as the fight is over, Junon entered the bus to check on Marcia.

edited 12th Apr '16 1:21:13 PM by josh6243

It took a few seconds to the lizard to register the two shapes standing above him, towards which he groggily raised a couple fingers, wincing a bit.

"Give me a couple minutes there, I can't hear shit..." He muttered before letting his arm fall back down, barely noticing Iris tending to his wounds.

"... Anyone else hurt?" He added, momentarily forgetting his current hearing problems.

"I think we are all OK" Alicia responded, not realizing Jeremy couldn't hear her. "Well, except Lufia. She's dead, I think. But you probably know that."

Then she turned around and shouted, "OK everyone, back inside the bus! I'll keep watch over Jeremy while he recovers. We're going to be getting some answers soon!" she added with a harsh stare at Iris, who didn't seem bothered by it at all. In fact she too walked towards the bus.

Suddenly Alicia felt weak. Then she realized that Aries was still here, and her presence was draining her energy. She had to send her back to the Celestial Realm.

"Close, Gate of The Ram" she said.

"Sorry..." the timid spirit said, as she vanished.

As Iris entered the bus, she noticed Damien trying to stand. "Oh, eager little beaver, ain't ya! Well sit back, big boy, 'cause I'm not done fixing you yet. Don't worry, I have plenty of spare parts from when I last clashed with the Cybermen. You'll be better than new when I finish!" she grinned as she picked up the fork-tool again.

edited 12th Apr '16 5:26:49 PM by Sijo

Damien lay there and tried to still his breathing. He tried to stay calm, but only when he heard that they'd done it - that yes, they had managed to kill Lufia, or rather, that she'd self-destructed - did he calm down. Iris stepped back onto the bus, fortunately - though it would be plain to see that while he was attempting to stand, success was the least possible result of this. He did only have the use of one leg.

"Yeah. Not like I can do much, really. Ever tried to get up and walk with one leg? Not very easy."

Yuuji was stuck in place, partly because of Jeremy. Due to him being on top of Lufia the teen couldn't go in for a strike, and moving around wouldn't help either because that just makes her more susceptible to an attack. The teen wasn't quite pinned as much as she just needed to have some patience. It didn't look like Yuuji needed to have it for long, though. A sudden explosion from underneath Jeremy shook the floor and sent him flying, unluckily in the direction the girl was standing. "Shoot!" she nearly cursed, jumping to the side and rolling out of the way. The deathclaw landed a bit further, obviously beat up and out of shape.

Yuuji picked herself up from the floor with a slight look of confusion on her face. The girl didn't see much of Lufia remaining, which made her conclude that they were the source of the explosion. "Crazy little..." the teen started to mutter, but cut herself off midway. She scanned the area again. Everyone was starting to come outside, and to Jeremy's aid. And the timelord woman or whatever offered to patch him up... And then asked for everyone to get in the bus.

"No- I think I'll refuse." Yuuji shared with the rest, shaking their head with the eyes closed. "I'm sorry but... I can't do this. I'm not up for playing hero," Yuuji continued, taking a step back. "Maybe there's strength in numbers. Maybe you'll all end up achieving something. But... I don't feel like throwing my life away just like that, sorry. It's been a nonstop flurry of running and fighting for the entire time I've been with you guys, and I've had enough." Yuuji speeched to the rest, turning their back to them at the end of that. She didn't seem to sound timid or remorseful at all. "I'm sorry, everyone, but I'm going to travel solo. Find this out on my own. I don't think anything good will come by sticking around." the girl kept talking, now walking away from the group. Once she was a little ways away, she raised up her left hand to wave, even though Yuuji's back was still turned to the rest. This was probably their way of saying 'goodbye'.

edited 13th Apr '16 12:34:56 PM by Nickpws

Alicia was a bit surprised at Yuuji's reaction, at first. But then she realized, it made sense.

After all, just because you have been Changed, doesn't mean you *have* to join their cause. In fact, considering how traumatic the change must have been for him- and the fact they were opposing godlike beings, in a constant, frustrating struggle- she was surprised he lasted this long.

"Believe it or not, I understand" she said, so Yuuji would overhear. "I'd give up, too, if I wasn't afraid the world would became worse if someone didn't do something."

"Farewell" she finally added, and went back to checking on Jeremy.

edited 13th Apr '16 11:56:46 AM by Sijo

The Deathclaw eventually sat up, clutching his head in pain a bit and looking around, lightly nodding at Alicia as she approached, resting his arms on his knees. He briefly glanced down at himself and his blood-soaked body, letting out a long sigh to get his head back in the game; now was not the time to start thinking about how he snapped and started mauling a girl in front of everyone.

"... Alright. What's the situation?"

Before Iris approached Damien, Marcia silently left a healing potion nearby Damien's bed as a good-luck charm. Marcia quietly moved aside for Iris as she was about to resume operating on Damien and sighed. Hopefully, the good doctor will make Damien better, right?

"G-good luck, Damien," mumbled Marcia. "Sorry, um, I couldn't help you out more."

"It's alright, Marsh," said Junon as she tried to comfort her daughter. "You did all you could, and that's all that matters."

Although that fell on deaf ears, as Marcia completely ignored those words. Why couldn't Junon be normal? If that were the case, maybe Marcia would have a more peaceful life.

edited 13th Apr '16 2:30:22 PM by josh6243

"Well, everyone seems to be OK, even you apparently" Alicia responded to Jeremy. "You're one tough lizard, pal." She smiled, mostly to try to make him feel better. "Look, Iris is going to- tell us something very important. But only inside the bus, for some reason. So, err, try to listen in, if you can."

With that, Alicia got up and headed for the bus. She hated leaving an ally alone outside, but she really wanted to find out who was behind her- everyone's- misery!

As she entered the bus, she saw Iris still soldering stuff to Damien's body. "Don't worry, I'm almost done" the female Time Lord said aloud. "And I can still answer your questions while I work".

"You know what I want to know" Alicia said, in a *very* serious tone, arms crossed.

Surprisingly, Iris let out a sigh. It was the first time since Alicia met her that she seemed to lose that air of confidence about her.

"The people behind this... belong to my own race" she began to explain.

"What- Time Lords!?" Alicia gasped.

Iris suddenly gave Alicia a don't-interrupt-me kind of stare, then continued. "Of a sort. They are actually a rogue faction. They call themselves Faction Paradox, because instead of protecting the timestream, they create paradoxes- for their own, twisted amusement."

She waited a moment, either to let it sink in, or out of embarrassment. In any case, she added, "Normally, even with their resources, they would not be able to do the things they have done to your world. But- they acquired a set of artifacts recently, on another reality. One that can literally grant any wish. They are known as Dragonballs."

"Wha- Dragonballs!?" Alicia interrupted again. "Like in- that awful movie?" Actually the only reason Alicia even knew about that was because her Otaku boyfriend Carlos never shut up about much he hated it, but still, even she had heard of them. "But- I thought they could only be used like, once or something?"

"They are supposed to disperse after one wish, correct" Iris explained. "But they found a way around that. They are keeping the spheres within a time-space fold, so, no matter how many wishes they ask for, the balls remain there, still active."

Alicia was silent for a moment. Then she asked, "So, if we can get the balls away from them, we can wish things back to normal?"

"In theory, yes. The thing is, as Time Lords, they are already fearsome opponents. Armed with infinite use of Dragonballs? Almost impossible to beat."

Alicia grew furious. "Why? Why did they do this to our world? WHY??"

"Two reasons" Iris said, starting to sound more like her normal self. "First, because over here, the Time Lords cannot find out what they are up to. Even I only found out by accident, since I tend to travel beyond my native universe. And second? Because they are a bunch of bastards who enjoy playing with people's lives. "

"What about the Time Lords, cannot we ask them for help?"

"Umm, well. That'd be tricky. First, no way Faction Paradox is going to let us. And even if we did, with the exception of The Doctor, most of them don't care *that* much about other races, unless their universe is threatened."

"Then" a by-now fuming Alicia shouted, "What CAN WE DO??"

"Easy there, girl" Iris said, for once sounding reassuring. "I have a plan of course. You don't think I would have come here without one, now do you?"

"You see, The Faction has committed one fatal error in their little game of infusing other realities into yours. They didn't take into account that other reality manipulators might have been brought in, as well."

"Really?" Alicia said, her eyes widening in hope. "Like whom?"

"Like her" Iris said, stopping her fixing of Damien to show her a picture. On it was a young, blonde woman.

"Her name is Angelique. And she can create universes.

edited 15th Apr '16 8:26:24 PM by Sijo