Rick
"The wood," Rick replied to Ching. "Is it teak? Solid choice, decent hardwood and good endurance when wet or outdoors. Of course, normally I'm looking at these things from the outside."
The Troper Formerly Known as Amp
Huangdi
"I haven't taken up any 'offers' from a lowly worm like yourself!" the emperor yelled back. He lifted his shield up and slammed it down, again. "I don't care if you've mysteriously developed some kind of bullshit aesthetic ability, or your Noble Phantasm is some kind of ghost-soap, but there is still absolutely no damned way that you can defeat any of us-" Huangdi turned his head a little, and screamed: "-right, sea-whore?"
Thahab
The smile that the boy had soon degenerated into a frown. He crouched down and ruffled his hair in frustration.
"Is it a uh.. um.. a..." he groaned a little.
"H-helicopter?" he said at last, with a very shaky smile.
Agrippa & Al-Hazred
Agrippa tilted her head, frowned, then walked over to inspect the paper.
She took it from Al-Hazred, turned it around, then flipped it over and exposed it to the light.
"That is most certainly Malachim. I don't know why something this esoteric would be written in the language used by the messenger angels of Jehovah, but there it is. It says.. 'All the world's minds turned to ash, all of man's glories tarnished, all of his knowledge brought back to the primordial sea,' though the person who wrote this is clearly writing in this script for the first time."
"Does this mean anything to you Al-Haz- wait, where did you- what?"
The man was gone and Thahab was too, somehow. He was in Cadmus's sight for a moment, and then he was gone, whisked away in but an instant.
edited 11th May '16 7:04:52 PM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fist
Jeanne
Thahab's disappearance immediately set Jeanne on high alert. She was standing right next to him and somehow didn't notice a thing. But before running off in any direction she attepmted contact Thahab while at the same time trying to sense him through their connection. {"Thahab! Where are you? You must speak quickly."}
Aaliyah
This mission could not have gotten any worse. First the dick waving and now a kidnapping. She has to stay calm though. There was no way she could catch up to a Servant but there was something she could do. She tried to contact Chaldea again
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850
Cadmus
"If the worst has happened to the young Master, you shouldn't distress," Cadmus said to Jeanne, her voice a mix of friendly and predatory. "I would gladly take on the responsibility of being your new Mistress."
"Yam?" she added, holding out the yam she had been offering Thahab.
In Perpetual Finality
Gabby
"...Whoa..." Was all Gabby could say when she watched her lowly Servant get, erm... less lowly-looking. Frick, maybe she misjudged him. Maybe all he needed was a little nudge in the right direction...
"...Yeah, that's it, Lancer!" She called out to Thomas. "Frick 'em up!"
She paused in thought of the implications of what she just hollered out. Was... Was she seriously condoning his involvement in this dumb idiot fight...?
Uh... But maybe don't frick Rider up as much..." She hastily added."And definitely not her Master, that would be very bad."
She silently hoped someone would fill her in on the important-sounding discussion that appeared to be going on and mentally kicked herself a bit for missing out on it. Still, she just had to see what her Servant was capable of, that and make sure he didn't frick this up for himself or others.
Günther
"...Heh! Well that was sudden." Günther exclaimed, not seeming terribly phased by this development.
Even so, he quickly began scanning his surroundings for any trace of the shifty Al-Hazred or his would-be homunculus hostage. He knew this was probably in vain, but he figured he ought at least attempt at being useful. Heh, wow, this was really going to hell in a handbasket, wasn't it...?
make it through this year if it kills you yet | 2001-2019
Ching
"Good eye, Master." Ching said, giving Rick a confirming nod. "Of course I couldn't tell you what types of wood make up the entirety of my fleet. Having 18,000 ships to command you tend to not sweat the details beyond whether the damn things will float or break apart in stormy weather or combat."
With that she turned her attention back to Thomas and Haungdi.
"Just so we are clear, I have no intention of killing that one," she said pointing to the Lancer. "He is part of the expedition here and therefore has value as an asset to the mission." Then she pointed back to Haungdi. "You on the other hand were only useful in pointing us in the direction we needed to go. At this point you are expendable."
Thomas
Mallory smirked at the growing anger of Huangdi. He measured the odds in his head: Two Angry Servants, a massive magical wall, a giant floating ship, and potentially thousands of stone soldiers against him and his Dear Reader?
....Thrilling.
"I'll take that as a compliment, my unhinged friend!" Thomas called out to Ching, striking the earth with Colchester in challenge. "However, I have full intent to thrash either fool who throws the first punch, both of you at once, if need be!"
edited 13th May '16 4:02:27 PM by MacDuffy
The Troper Formerly Known as Amp
Jeanne
{"W-Why....lou-.... stop... I can't...screami-...."}
Thahab was clearly afraid, by the sound of his voice, but there was some sort of psychic interference keeping him from having a proper connection with Jeanne.
{"So...-oices...al-Khali..."}
In the background of his shaky voice was a strange muted sound. It sounded like a chorus of unique screaming voices that were mutually distinct from one another and equally as discordant. It was an exceptionally painful noise to listen to, and an even worse one to have beamed directly into your head. Even at this low volume, it was giving Jeanne a headache.
It was unknowable what it was like for Thahab at this moment.
Aaliyah
It took her about a minute to establish a connection.
Dr. Roman, clearly having just been roughly woken up from the aftermath of an all-nighter, looked at Aaliyah groggily.
"D-do you need something?" he asked, before yawning. "Did you finish the mission?"
Thomas, Huangdi, and Ching
The audience is impressed, but it wants to see if you'll back up your claims with a good spectacle.
The Emperor put his hands at his hips and looked condescendingly over at Ching. "Expendable? Please, wangba, the only expendable one here would be you."
He walked over to Thomas and put a hand on his shoulder. "This man here, presumably, can dance around with his spear and provide amusement to all with his folly. You? You can only do one thing: blindly fire those cannons at anything that even vexes you for a moment. A messenger asks you to write down your name? Being the idiot that you are, I will assume you cannot read or write, so undoubtedly you would simply blast the poor messenger to the high heavens. Your pork bun came out to cold? Might as well season it with some gunpowder and send it flying into the ocean."
Now he removed his hand from Thomas's shoulder and pointed at Ching.
"Do you know what you are? You're nothing more than a fireworks display attached to a particularly slutty whale."
The audience makes one of those "ooooooo" noises.
Gunther
Gunther wouldn't spy anything of note.
Except for one tiny little development.
A small pale hand on the floor. The one Thahab had extended to receive the yam, presumably.
Agrippa
Was nothing ever capable of going well?
Things were going so well just now.
She crumpled the paper she was just holding in her hand, then thought some more and unruffled it. Now, she began studying it in hopes it would illuminate something about their new opponent.
edited 14th May '16 8:34:21 AM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fist
Jeanne
Jeanne held her head in one hand, and indignantly slapped away the yam with the other. "I will not fail another Master!" she said almost frantically, and called out to Thahab again. "Use your command seals Thahab. Call me to you."
She was certain that would be in vain though, so while she waited and prayed that Thahab could hear her, she began to check the exits of the room they were in.
Aaliyah.
Aaliyah was slightly annoyed, but suppressed the urge to yell at the fluffy haired scientists. "Wake up Roman, we've got an emergency. One of our Masters has been kidnapped, Thahab. So prepare to pull him."
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850
The Troper Formerly Known as Amp
Thahab / Jeanne
{"Co-...-an-.."}
Thahab's voice was getting weaker, but it didn't seem to be as a result of their distance or because of some kind of psychic interference breaking up their connection.
It was probably the voices Jeanne could hear. She would feel the tell tale pull of an activated command seal on her body, but it was much weaker than it should have been, as though the command was not said with determination.
The pull was leading her downwards, deeper into the labyrinth.
Dr. Roman / Aaliyah
"Oh well that's too-" Dr. Roman began to say groggily, before he lurched forward in surprise. The shock woke him up completely.
"T-Thahab has been kidnapped? Oh no no no no no..." he muttered, as he pulled at his hair.
"Didn't Jabir tell Rick to protect the boy? I think he did.. and I can't pull him out from your timeframe. Wherever he is right now, there's some kind of interference blocking my ability to do just that. I can pull any of you out but.. well.."
He looked around himself nervously.
"I don't know what Jabir would do if he found out."
G was here - 2/9/24
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fist
Aaliyah
"Yeah well Rick and his Servant decided to get into a dick contest with the local Shielder. So that's what they're doing." Said with just the slightest hint of indignation. "Fine though I'm going to find him. Contact me if something comes up." cutting the connection Aaliyah walked over to the exit and called to the others.
"Hey! One of our allies got kidnapped! I'm going to find them, so anyone who still cares about the mission had better follow." Stepping out into the darkness she started to tenatively do as the mad man had suggested, following the flow of mana towards the bottom.
Jeanne
Aaliyah was beaten out the door by one person, it was of course Jeanne. Following the pull of the command spell she took off leaving only a gust of wind her wake.
Ching
Ching looked at the emperor boredly. "Flattery will get you nowhere." she intoned as she reclined on her ship.
"As for tactics, you really don't have get to criticize." she stated matter-of-factly. "I at least make an effort to fight, lack of finesse or otherwise. Since you've been here the most you've done was cower behind your wall. You could have gotten out of here by now if you had actually made the effort. But no, you were scared off by a fat man and a migraineur."
She crossed her legs casually as she relaxed. "It makes one wonder if your so called "success" in life was your doing or if you just took all the credit. Would explain the book burning."
Then Aaliyah announced that one of them had been kidnapped, presumably by that "Mad Man" from before. Ching clicked her tongue in annoyance. Why their Servant wasn't protecting them like they should she would never know.
"Well, time to get moving." She said as she stamped her boot to the deck of the ship. The boat shuddered suddenly and started drifting in the direction Aaliyah had gone in.
edited 16th May '16 11:10:27 AM by thatdude
Cadmus
Cadmus followed along.
Rick
"Okay," Rick said, going along for the ride.
The Troper Formerly Known as Amp
Jeanne
The pull of the command seal was almost like the mythical ball of string used by Theseus. It led Jeanne around corners and through hallways, seemingly at random, but with some kind of occult confidence that she would be able to reach her destination unfettered.
Along her path were multiple corpses, seemingly those of the set animals from before. Some of them had stab wounds, these were more recent and probably done by Al-Hazred. The others were somewhat older and brutally torn apart by massive swords, presumably those of the Berserker from earlier.
Her sprinting ultimately brought her to another atrium and another darkened doorway like the one that brought them to this level. This atrium was decorated in a rather lavish Roman style, complete with stylized columns and an arrangement of statues.
Leaning against the wall of this doorway was a lone figure
◊. He was incredibly bloodied, but the way he held his head meant that the pain he felt wasn't physical. He raised his head at Jeanne, then looked at her with a knowing glance.
"Before you ask, yes, I am another copy of Julius Caesar, in the container of the Archer class." He shook his head. "I take it you are going after the madman and his victim, yes? I will not stop you. I can assure you that I want to see that servant of FLAUROS put down as much as you do. I just hope you do a better job than I. The others have gone ahead to pursue them. As the weakest, I have been left here to recover and serve as a messenger."
"If you see anyone else, any of my.. brothers, tell them this: Love the name of honor, fear not death. With those words, they will understand that I sent you."
With that, he slumped down onto the floor to regain his bearings a bit. He looked fatally wounded, but his composure was that of a man somewhat winded.
The Rest of the Group
Huangdi smiled, then dissolved his shield from his hands. "If I recall correctly, you were virtually useless in that confrontation. It never matters how much effort you put in, only the results. Any tactician would know that."
He slapped Mallory's back as he walked past him. "Come, court-jester. We have more important matters to attend to than banter and, well, disappointing attempts at banter."
Agrippa shoved the papers in her pocket, then followed the party.
These schematics.. they're based off of concepts I worked on with Paracelsus.. could the enemy be a student of mine? Of one of our Association?
The group would meet Archer a few choice minutes after Jeanne did, but her trail was easy enough to follow. The explosive strides of a desperate servant will do that.
G was here - 2/9/24
Tom
Mallory exhaled a bit, more of mild disappointment than relief, that the conflict had been more or less dissolved. This wasn't much of a flashy moment at all....But wait! What that companion of his said.....One of their comrades had be taken from then! The situation had gone from a tense conflict to a tense rescue mission!....He smiled and gripped Colchester with restored resolve...He could salvage this, yet!
With a hop and a skip, Mallory replied to Huangdi's backpat with one in kind, passing him up. "I'll see you there then, Your Majesty!" He replied in jest with a salute, as he took off along Jeanne's trail in a great burst of sudden speed, attempting to catch up to her and leaving wispy trails of his golden glow in his wake.
"{You won't mind if I jump the gun a bit, will you?}" He told Gabby telepathically.
edited 19th May '16 4:12:38 PM by MacDuffy
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fist
Jeanne
Jeanne stopped for a brief moment, noticing yet another Ceaser. She knew there was more out there, but finally seeing one made it click in her head how utterly ridiculous it was that one guy got summoned six times. She summoned her sword to her hand but was suprised to hear him try to explain himself rather than fight. The word Flarous especially had gotten her attention. Where did she hear that name before? Ugh it didn't matter, she had to rescue Thahab so so she just nodded. "I understand, thank you." And headed into the room sword still drawn, ready to strike at any abomination that dared attack her Master.
Aaliyah
Aaliyah wasn't exactly a slow runner but she wasn't a Servant either. Even still she broke into a sprint, thankful that the Servant's were so loud in their pursuit of the missing boy and the mad man. It made it considerably easier to follow them.
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850
Cadmus
"Are you truly so wounded or simply playing it up for dramatic business?" Cadmus asked Caesar the Archer. Honestly, for immortal ghost spirit warrior heroes, servants sure seemed willing to lay down their lives for the slightest thing in her opinion. Still, if he had nothing left to live for, maybe he could be given something to die for.
"If you have no affiliation and simply need mana to recharge, I can create a new contract and become your temporary mistress. That would at least allow you to die in a vengeful suicidal charge."
Ching "I'm on a boat" Shih
Ching had to suppress a chuckle at Thomas' declaration that he'd take them on. Ching had to give the shabby looking man credit, he wasn't lacking in confidence but certainly had foolishness in spades. As the Shielder emperor pointed out, the two of them clearly outclass the Lancer in terms of power. Ching looked over the side of her ship as Haungdi dismissed his Noble Phantasm and approached Thomas, seemingly forgetting the cannons of her ships still aimed at him as he focused the Lancer. It's be a good opportunity to take the emperor out, but she wasn't going to open fire just yet. She wanted to make sure Haungdi's attention was fully focused on something else. That something being Thomas.
But her Master asked her something. Something about her ship.
"Hmm? Sorry, I was distracted, what did you say?" she asked Rick as she tore her attention away from the Lancer and the Shielder's confrontation.
edited 9th May '16 5:27:40 PM by thatdude