Town ~ Shopping District ~ Street ~ Truck (Bonnie, Carol, Lily; Dius, Vindex; Matiu; NCH; Mequoql, Morpho)

Sharing a seat in the truck with the still-partially-restrained Mequoql, Morpho answered Bonnie, "A robot is a complex bit of machinery. There's more to it than that, but we have more important things to talk about."

Neither Mequoql nor Morpho would have described Mequoql's actions while mind-controlled as zombie-like. Zombies weren't cunning.

Lily asked, "Anyway, other that having Bonnie perform dual catharsis on them, are you aware of how else might we break Mael's mind control, or better yet, prevent ourselves from falling under his control should we encounter him directly again?"

Mequoql interjected, "I still need to be scanned and debriefed before I can answer that based on my own experience."

Morpho added, "The Web of Friendship has a collection of ideas based on combating a different mind-controller."

[A Truck Of Sin...that's a joke please don't take it seriously]

"Not even close," Jackson said as they got in the truck, "Well, if you mean 'running away from the people that are tying to fucking kill us', then yeah, we are runaways." He stared at the top of the car, "Besides...we have no home to come back to. For now."

Nick gave Carol an annoyed look, "You want a serious answer or are you trying to be annoying?" He sighed and rubbed his temple, "Any-fucking-way, since you guys have robots and shit, I'm sure that you'll be fine. Though, usually, when someone gets brainwashed by him, they act a bit more zombie like."

"Maybe it's because she's not human!" Amy said, "I mean...that's what I'm thinking. She did almost lead us to him. I'm glad you managed to free her! I was gonna have to stun her for a minute!" Realizing how that sounded, she twiddled, "N-Not to hurt her...just wanted to protect ourselves..."

When Morpho said the name of their team, the biggest smile grew on Nick's face and his eyes went wide.

"Wait wait wait," he said, "You're called the Web of Friendship? That's so fucking cool!" He then hit Jackson the shoulder, "Dude! Why didn't we think of that?"

"OW! You piece of shit!" Jackson rubbed his arms and sucked through his teeth, "Argh, I can't stand you!"

Adam covered his mouth, trying not to laugh. Maya smirked, and Marie rolled her eyes.

"Back on the much more serious topic," she said, "I'm not really sure how to free someone from his control; none of us, so far, got mind-controlled by him. You guys might be able to figure it out, though. But I have to say...punching will not work."

The Scar (Ozurr, Krakka'a, Zarokh; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)

Varg let out a deep chuckle at Ozurr's comment before climbing into the vehicle and taking a seat behind the wheel.

Jann climbed in on the other side, and began to somewhat awkwardly shimmy his way around Rosalind towards him own seat.

"Excuse me. The map..." he began to say as his legs brushed up against hers, but got interrupted as he felt his foot get stuck on something - a backpack strap, maybe? - and tumbled over, swiveling around on his other foot like some drunken Viranian temple dancer and only stopping himself at the last second, just an inch away from Rosalind's face.

Oh, and their chests were touching now, as he suddenly realized.

A surprised "Um..." was all Jann managed to get out, staring into the vampiric woman's eyes with a dumbfounded expression.

Over in the driver's seat, Varg rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but to flash a brief smirk as well. Humans...

The Scar (Ozurr, Krakka'a, Zarokh; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)

Rosalind smiled coyly as Jann wriggled by, then she heard her backpack rustle and things took a turn beyond what she was expecting. Jann slipped and his weight came crashing down on her. Rosalind's expression changed to one of alarm as her mind lit up in a tangle of frenzied instincts competing for her attention and making the next few seconds seem much slower.

Catch him!

Rosalind's hands shot to Jann's ribcage.

No, dodge him!

She started to lurch for the door, but snagged her left knee on his legs, upsetting his balance further and spreading her own legs apart.

No, bite him!

She blundered right into his clutching hands, which were aiming for the backrest behind her, not her shoulders where they landed. She was knocked back by the impact.

No, stop!

Rosalind flinched and braced for the rest of the impact.

What just happened?

"Eep!" Rosalind squeaked at the suggestive collision she found herself in. Jann was between her legs, with his chest pressed into hers and their faces nearly touching. Her hands were on the lowest ribs of his ribcage.

Don't panic don't bite don't kiss don't panic don't bite don't kiss don't panic don't bite don't kiss...

"Varg, just drive, get us outta here. Jann, hang on, lemme try..." Rosalind ineffectively tried to roll Jann off to her left. But his foot was still caught in the backpack, she failed to account for that and accidentally caused his left hand to slip down from her right shoulder and... Oops.

"Oh dear, I'm makin' this worse..." she mumbled. Her extended vampiric senses kicked in and made her acutely aware of how Jann's bloodflow was being redistributed — and her fangs were also extending in reaction... She hastily pressed her lips together, hopefully before Jann could notice, and blushed.

Edited by Miss_Desperado on Jul 6th 2018 at 3:00:36 AM

The Scar (Ozurr, Krakka'a, Zarokh; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)

Ordinarily, Ozurr would have laughed at the spectacle unfolding in front of him. After all, it didn't take a Third Eye to tell what was on both of their minds. But at the moment, he suddenly found himself painfully reminded of Arnora. Would he ever see her again? Was she even still alive?

Krakka'a, meanwhile, started seriously weighing the pros and cons of having Zarokh flip the truck anyway, just to put a stop to it.

(Chitara's wagon)

"I wasss merely reacting to the fact that you referred to a curssse, which is how many of the paladins of the Silver Order describe witchcraft. They ssseek to rid the world of usss witches, and will not hesitate to use violent meansss. If you did not mean the term that way, then I apologize."

At that moment, a massive lightning bolt ripped through the sky and plowed into the ground like a behemoth being dropped off a cliff. "Yesss, Nyceme. Thisss would be a good time for me to ussse some powerful combative magic... sssave for the fact that I don't have any. Calling up hordesss of undead or titanic floods is possible, but my strengthsss don't lie in that direction, sadly."

Hotel - Room 444 (Murquoql, Amelia, Inni)

Amelia was a bit disappointed to hear about the correction on the portals, but the fact that it made the sunlight even stronger at least sounded promising. "Hmm, that sounds like something that might work even at night then."

Inni listened to Murquoql's sumary of things... and the notion that the Fiendlord may have brought a piece of his fortress with him? She laughed. "He is quite strong, but I don't think he'd be able to carry even one room of the thing such a long way. If anything I'd imagine him building a new home base here, which... it would take at least a few days to build anything significant. Otherwise if I were him I'd find some ruins or a cave or something and hide out there."

"Like the Caves of the Abyss?" Amelia mentioned.

"Oh, you mean those water-filled caves underneath the rainforest? Hmm, good point, those waters are still. I'm not even sure if he can swim, but he certainly doesn't need to breathe, so..." She shrugged. "But really, we're just grasping at straws. That sun gun, I guess you would call it, sounds like it might work. It reminds me of... what's that video game kids are playing nowadays..."

"Oh, you mean Portal? Yes, it does seem similar to that. Well, Mercockle... did I say that right? It sounds you are quite the detective with a rather competent team on your hands. If I were you, I'd... I-I-I'd try and bring Fred back before dusk, before You-Know-Who wakes up, if he is here... which, God, I hope not... but as long as he's back safe, th-that is all that matters."

Inni noticed the stress and fear in Amelia's voice. "Yes, Amelia. I do hope he's all right out there, or that he at least returns to us so; we've missed him, you know. I do appreciate your help, and you shall be rewarded in full if you should succeed."

Edited by ladytanuki on Jul 6th 2018 at 10:20:21 AM

Alley —> Truck

Most of what Bonnie was going on about meant nothing to Matiu - giant crocodiles? - but it seemed that the silver robot was one of the 'good guys' and the immediate danger had passed... though it also seemed that the actual bad guy had fled and was still out there somewhere.

Everyone started following Carol's suggestion to get back to the truck and Matiu followed along, mindful that he was not in any way prepared to deal with anything. No one seemed inclined to answer his question and explain the presence of the strange invisible something that had been talking to the teens - perhaps it was too complicated to address when there were more immediate concerns to worry about.

As others piled into the truck, Matiu held back. "I can't come along with you fellas. I've got nothin' but the clothes on my back an' some bugger's broomstick an' you're all plannin' to go bush. I don't wanna hold y'z up, but I need t'get a few things - if my money's any good around here."

Just a short one as the action is progressing really fast and Kkutwar hasn't posted yet. Posts for the other groups to follow as I find the time.

Town ~ Shopping District ~ Street ~ Truck (Bonnie, Carol, Lily; NCH; Mequoql, Morpho; Dius, Vindex; Matiu)

Bonnie took a seat closest to the front of the truck, next to a canvas covered mass, polished bits of metal peeking out in places. Lily gave Morpho a raised eyebrow, as she joined the others in the back of the truck. "So, judging by you interactivity, an automaton... made of— you seem a bit... fluid, so... slime? Hydrargyrum? Something else entirely?" the flight mage asked, before shaking her head, "You're right, now is not the time for that."

Carol stopped to return Nick's annoyed look with one of her own, "Ya realize how many problems can be resolved by hittin' somethin' hard enough?"

"Ya realize how many problems can be created by hittin' somethin' hard enough?" Bonnie mockingly retorted.

Carol flipped the lagokin off as she left to restart the truck. A minute of cranking noises later, the engine rumbled to life, and the quarter-elf hopped back onto the driver's bench. The noise of the engine was fortunately quiet enough that those in the back could continue their conversations without having to necessarily resort to shouting.

Bonnie folded her arms, "So, when a human is enthralled by Mael, they act, what, less competent than usual? Well, I guess there's some good news in that," she said, before looking to her left, towards the driver's bench, "for the most part."

The lagokin reached over to place a reassuring hand on Amy's knee. "I know you wouldn't mean to hurt her, I would have— was going to do the same thing. Sometimes patients aren't exactly cooperative."

Carol glanced over her shoulder towards Nick and the others, "Oi, Lils, How come we don't have a name for our group?" she asked.

Lily sighed softly, "We do; Green Duckmole. It's just no one seems to use it."

Acknowledging what Matiu had said, she then hopped down from the back of the truck, "Carol, you can start heading towards the forest; I'll catch up with you later." Lily turned to Matiu as the truck began rumbling away, "I see. We had been originally planning to pick up a few supplies, but things got rather complicated it seems. I'll stay with you to help you pick up a few things; that way I can take you back to the truck if you want," she offered.

Room 444 (Murquoql, Amelia, Inni)

Murquoql nodded at the comment on the sunportal flashlights, "Exactly." She sighed in relief, "I just had to ask to make sure. Like you said, building or finding a new base is more likely than bringing a bit of an old base."

"Close," she corrected her name, "'Q-U' sound instead of 'K' sound and the first syllable rhymes with 'fur'. Anyway..."

She started rolling up the papers into a compact cylinder, "...I've got enough info to finalize the search team roster. You're right, we've got a ticking clock and the sun-portal flashlights are of limited help with that. I'd best be going. Thank you for your time." She stood up.

The Scar (Chitara's Wagon)

The view through the window into the interior of the wagon shifted noticeably - as if the inside was now bigger - but there was no change to the outward appearance of the wagon. It made Aubrey's eyes ache just to look at it.

Up ahead, the sky clouded and there was a rumble of thunder and Aubrey caught the word waterproof and Jamie's question directed at those on the bikes. He knew that there were waterproof over-garments in the saddlebags if needed so he nodded. "We'll be fine."

Pearl spared a second of attention away from the road to quickly flash a smile at Nyceme. "Well, our machines don't actually use lightning, per se..." her eyes were back on the 'road' ahead, "and lightning would be a pretty terrible way to charge any machine - too short-lived and unreliable, not to mention bloody dangerous. We have machines that produce smaller amounts of electricity at a steady rate, rather than one powerful - but very brief - bolt."

Sindar was sent out to scout ahead and reported back that there was a group somewhere ahead and that there was only forest on beside the scar. Finn nodded. "But accordin' t'me map, there's a river up ahead that has its source somewhere near the necropolis. I was thinkin' we might be able t'follow its course if the banks are clear of trees." He gave a frown. "If not, then I guess it's gonna be a long walk."

Restaurant

To Wolfe, Ulf's description of a 'symbiotic spirit' reminded him of when he had been involved with the pagan community - there had been those who styled themselves as 'lycanthropes' or 'theriomorphs' and believed that they had - in addition to their own human spirit - the spirit of a wolf or some other animal that could take control of the body. None of them, however, claimed it could physically shape them into a wolf - it was a 'spiritual transformation' only. Of course, there were good sound scientific explanations for all the things they claimed to experience.

For Gwion, it was astounding to hear how close Ulf's description of a 'symbiotic spirit' sounded to the wolf-spirit that cohabited his own body. The only difference seemed to be that - as he had previously witnessed - Ulf's 'symbiotic spirit' seemed to be able to effect a physical transformation while Gwion's, and Sophia's, transformations were purely spiritual with only minor physical side-effects.

Even though they had previously experienced disparities between the time that had elapsed for themselves and that which had elapsed for others, the news that Nemaforte had died 'a long time ago' in Nui's timeline came as a shock to those who had parted company from her less than two months previously.

Gwion pursed his lips thoughtfully before speaking. "Well, I sincerely hope she lived a long and prosperous life before passing." Teri, Peggy, Kris, Kaitlyn, Sophia, James and Wolfe all nodded agreement.

As Nui departed, James and Kris rose and followed her, figuring it would make more sense to go and meet these others directly rather than waste time to-ing and fro-ing. Kaitlyn noticed and hastened to join them on the walk to the restaurant.

Teri arched an eyebrow when Nora suddenly latched on to Leone and stated that she wanted to join the Wasteland group.

Wolfe's ears pricked up at the mention of Cynthia. Of course, the whole quasi-military look that all but Nora seemed to favour. It wasn't much of a risk to assume that the uniformed 'Cynthia' at the hotel was the one to which Diantha referred.

Peggy smiled. "Nora's most welcome to join us if she wants and, ahh, Cynthia is amenable to it." Leone was quite right; compared with the other teams heading out, their group seemed doomed to be the smallest. An extra person; an extra set of eyes and ears, would be most useful.

At Leone's question, Sophia looked at her watch. "It's gettin' on in the day, 'n' we've all got a long way t'go. I think that if a group's ready t'leave, then they should be free t'do so, rather'n havin' t'wait 'round for us all to meet up." She turned to Diantha. "Shall we go 'n' see Cynthia 'n' find out if y'r young friend c'n join the Wasteland group?"

Wolfe turned to Jean. "Now, you were saying earlier that you had your own transport t'get t'th'forest. How far away's that? Coz I'm thinkin' we should get a move on."

Edited by Wolf1066 on Jul 8th 2018 at 8:02:18 PM

Town Square ~ Restaurant (Diantha, Jean, Nora; Leone; Gwion, James, Kris, Sophia, Teri, Wolfe; Ulf)

"Yay!" Nora beamed a smile as she detached herself from Leone to jump on Diantha's shoulder, transforming into a small, pink, cutesy cuddle cuttlefish-like critter in the process. The other girl stumbled slightly as she regained her balance from the rather unexpected addition of weight.

"Try not to worry too much," Diantha told the others, "she's more competent than she seems." Nora whipped one of Diantha's hair petals with a tentacle, as if to say "Hey!"

Diantha nodded in Sophia's direction, "Yeah, we probably should. Right now, she'll probably be in the lobby, or planning on joining a group," she told her, before heading to the hotel.

Town ~ Hotel Lobby (Cynthia, Diantha; Moobly, Nora; others)

Upon entering the lobby, Diantha hailed Cynthia with a wave.

The young knight excused herself from Valerie and the others for a moment. "Oh, Diantha, is something the matter?" she asked.

"Would be alright if we shuffled the groups? Nora and I want to go to different places; she wants to go to the Wastelands with a new friend she just made, and I'd like to investigate the Ghost Town. There might be a noble spirit there," replied Diantha. She splayed her hands, mindful of Nora on her shoulder, who was currently expanding her eyes as far as they could reasonably go while maintaining cuteness.

Cynthia cupped her chin. "The Ghost Town, you say? And noble spirits? I think I'll be the one paired up with you, then. There's someone else here who might be going there, and I feel that I should stay with her," she said, "otherwise, the situation might get... volatile." She closed her eye for a moment before reopening it, "Hmmm, I suppose that would mean Moobly can go with Nora."

"Moobly does not object," stated the cynthonic.

The young knight nodded enthusiastically, "There, problem solved!"

After fully debriefing Moobly on the current agenda, the cynthonic was on her way out the door with a cuttlefish on her head.

Meanwhile, back at the restaurant, Jean shook her head in response to Wolfe's question, "I had a transport. As I said just a bit ago, I don't really see my ride, so I guess I'll have to ride with one of you guys, if you don't mind."

The Scar (Chitara's Wagon)

Naiolo marveled at Saen's spellworking, making the wagon's interior even bigger than it was, allowing the two serpentine passengers more space to move. Although that marvel was short lived as Saen and Jamie seemed to be about to jump at each other's throats.

"Wowowow! Now, let's not get too violent shall we?" He quickly joined Nyceme in trying to dissuade them from taking the argument further.

Meanwile, at the front, Chitara kept her conversation with Sindar. "I wish fairies from where I come from were as sensible as you, then. Even the older ones only think of themselves. They just hide it bet-"

KRAKOOM

The sound of thunder seemed to startle everyone. "That's weird. I didn't see any cloud before." Chitara commented, unfazed. She focused on the horizon as best as her old eyes let her, while the fairy took up to the skies. Yes, she could confirm what he was seeing: Far away to the front, there seemes to be a gathering of stormy clouds, as well as some lightning.

Chitara frowned. "Either the weather here is out of wack, or some mage is feeling like showing off today." Nonetheless, she decided to press on. If there was trouble ahead, the group seemed to be well prepared to deal with any bandit or rogue mage.

Instead, she decided to focus on teh conversation going on inside. "Oh, I wouldn't argue against that. Zealots of any kind are bad news. Thankfully, the worst of the Holy Knights stay in their own lands, most of them are said to be usually decent, if a bit judgemental. And honestly, if they are so bent on eliminating witches, I say good riddance."

"Aaand here we go again." Naiolo couldn't help but roll his eyes in annoyance.

"Yes. Here I go again." An incensed Chitara responded, mocking Naiolo's tone. "Because witches are nothing but a plague, and bring nothing but harm. Ruining crops, abducting people for sacrifices and, oh, let's not forget sabotaging your beliefs until everyone ends up afraid of them and you! If there is one silver lining in their miserable existence, is that I've made a killing selling wards against their magic."

She pointed her last sentence with a despective snorting. Silence fell after that. Naiolo couldn't help but sigh. He could pretty much predict her reaction by now when anyone brought up that term. And considering that at least two passengers right now had referred to themselves as 'witches', best he could do was try to prevent any argument caused from some miscommunication.

"So.. is anyone hungry?" The young harpid called out while walking up to the chest, opening it up, and digging into it, taking a sack filled with chestnuts the size of a fist each. Better change the subject as soon as possible.

Sporting Goods Store

To Matiu's surprise, Lily held back after checking everyone was safely settled in the truck and, as the truck drove off without her, explained that she would wait while he got whatever he needed and take him the truck.

His eyes went wide. "Too much!" Despite the choice of words, his voice and demeanour conveyed eagerness, excitement and gratitude. The sporting goods store looked like a good place to get most of what he needed so he started heading for the door. "Don't worry, I know what I need. Think I'll start in here - bound t'be plennya stuff I can use.

He leaned the wooden rod against the wall near the door in case the person who dropped it decided to come back and find it once the panic died down - it was unlikely to get stolen as no one else was likely to want it, after all.

Once inside the shop he moved swiftly between the shelves, not wanting to hold Lily up any longer than necessary, looking for anything that was likely to be useful. He had been hunting with his Koro often enough that he had a good idea of the minimum essentials to carry in case of having to unexpectedly spend the night in the bush - spare warm clothes, shelter, the means to make fire and so forth.

It took only a few minutes to find everything he figured he would need, and he went to look at the rifles - if they were going to an unknown wilderness, he intended to be able to defend himself. His eyes went wide when he saw what was on display inside the glass counter. He looked up from the display to the attendant. "Am I able to buy any-a these, bro?"

The attendant nodded. "Certainly, sir."

A couple of minutes later, Matiu was the proud owner of a semiautomatic pistol - which he never could have bought back home - and a bolt-action rifle similar to the old 'three-oh-three' his Koro always carried when hunting deer or goat. Except this was a 'three-oh-eight'. In light of his choices, he selected a holster for the pistol and a sling for the rifle.

While Matiu stowed his purchases in his pockets and pack and secured the sheath knife and pistol's holster on his belt, the attendant kindly filled his canteen with fresh water from the staffroom.

He swung the modest-sized pack onto his back and slung the rifle over his shoulder. " Ka pai!" His satisfaction was evident in his face and bearing; he turned to Lily. "OK, I'm ready t'go when you are."

The Scar -> Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)

Jann stared down at were his left hand had ended up, quickly pulling it away with a startled gasp. This was certainly not a very gentlemanly turn of events at all. His temporarily confused mind couldn't help but take note of how vampires were apparently equally cold all over though, or so it seemed.

"Terribly sorry..." he mumbled. Where those her fangs that he'd spotted for a split second..? With some effort, he eventually untangled his foot and rolled over into the middle seat, throwing an embarrassed glance back towards Rosalind. She seemed to be blushing just as much as he felt himself doing.

"I believe I... caught my foot on something."

To the left of Jann, Varg smirked to herself, pulled a few of the vehicles haphazardly attached levers, and stepped on the accelerator. As the big hunk of rusty metal once again came to life and started rumbling down the Scar, Varg briefly looked at Ozurr through the cabin's rear window.

"Tell us if you spot any horses from up there, alright?"

The Scar -> Smaller River (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)

Relieved that Jann was off of her, Rosalind forced her fangs to retract. It was a strain to keep them in, so she held her hand over her mouth and stammered, "I, I'm sorry too. That was... that was my backpack..."

The truck was now on the move, and... Oh no, Ozurr! He was the only lookout!

Rosalind added, "I, uh, need to clear my head. I'll be up on the roof. Don't worry, I won't fall off. Just keep drivin', Varg." As if she'd done so a thousand times before, Rosalind slithered out the open window and pulled herself onto the roof.

Despite her guilt buffeting her just as hard as the truck's displaced air, Rosalind's footing was unnaturally steady. She sat down and brooded, trying to fit words to the emotions she was stewing in.

^{Author's note:} There's time enough for Ozurr to say something before...

Rosalind spoke, "Ozurr, I'm ashamed of myself. I let Jann distract me and left you in the lurch watchin' all our backs on your own."

"I see." John Smith pulled a vial from a pants pocket and said, "Well, since this mind-controlling Mael has not bothered any of this town's citizens, this problem is out of my jurisdiction. However, I will start a file and keep this information in mind for the future just in case he does try to mind-control my citizens."

Moquoql held out her bloody fingertips in response to the vial. As John Smith held the vial under each extended claw in turn, Moquoql's telekinesis released Mael's blood to drip into the vial. Ten droplets.

Truck, driving to Let's Get Out of Here (Morpho, Mequoql; others)

Morpho had a field kit version of the scan-for-mind-control hardware that the spaceship's medical pods had. He ran the quick-and-dirty version of the software written for that hardware. The results returned clean and that was good enough for now, but Morpho would still rather get Mequoql to a pod for a more thorough (paranoid-level thorough) examination, at some point soon. He sent the results, along with a request to arrange such an examination, up to the spaceship to add to the log.

Apparently, someone needed to get gear and catch up later. Someone else volunteered to escort him. Oh good, if the evacuation was flexible enough to accomodate that, then the evacuation was flexible enough to send Mequoql up to the spaceship for a more thorough scanning, just as soon as someone could escort her. Morpho had to stay behind to give the spaceship coordinates on where to send Mequoql back down for a reunion. Morpho's scan had been enough to downgrade Red Alert to Yellow Alert, which freed up the teleporters for a few more purposes.

This time, Morpho remembered the hyperactive types of zombie that happened when a necromancer keyed in to a specific strain of zombie germ and boosted the reanimated corpses out of shambling lethargy... but still, the hyperactive zombies could be outperformed by the alive-but-not-for-much-longer infectees... Morpho interjected, "Mequoql didn't seem zombie-like to me."

Mequoql reassured, "It's okay, I'm not offended by the prospect of you all stunning me in those circumstances." She gave a single chuckle, "In fact, one of my sisters already beat you to the punch. Remember when I screamed and fell? That was my sister incapacitating me."

Morpho hypothesized, "The inhuman factor might be worth looking into. Another factor might be because Mequoql, like most members of the Web of Friendship — oh, thanks for the compliment — thrives on action and adrenaline too much to stay zombie-like for long."

Mequoql tossed in her own observation, "I did feel kind of sluggish at the start, right up until that scrap of demonic corruption scared the pants off me."

"Incoming rant..." Morpho predicted.

"Oh, and get this — that demon thing had the audacity to offer to..." She made air quotes with her fingers, "'free' me. I know what that demonic euphemism means, it was the most blatant grab for my soul that I've ever seen!"

"Called it," Morpho muttered.

Mequoql re-railed the subject, "Anyway, I was too hopped up on adrenaline from that moment forward to be sluggish."

Morpho observed, "That adrenaline boost you described fits with what I saw you doing, and gives a disturbing amount of support to my hypothesis," Morpho sounded grim. "I have to ask — that moment with your claws on your throat... that was a bluff, right?"

"Yup. Grimmest bluff I've pulled yet," Mequoql confirmed.

"Whew!" And that's when it finally occurred to Morpho to ask, "Where are we going?"

Edited by Miss_Desperado on Jul 11th 2018 at 11:00:19 AM

[Truck]

"Forest," Jackson said, "We were going to go there anyway for exploring, but now we need to get out of this town as fast as possible. We need to find another place to hide."

"And don't expect Mael coming back to that town," Nick said, "He's smart enough to know not to come back to the same place. So we gotta be on our guard at all time."

"But I think with you guys around, we'll be safe!" Amy smiled and hugged Mequqol, "Now we have new friends!"

Marie smiled.

We should also have a better eye on Bunny. Maya signed, Make sure she doesn't pull that shit she did before again.

Nick shot her a glare. "Hey, stop it. She got the point the first time."

She's the reason he got away in the first place! You expect me to be nice to her? He's out there because she—

"Enough," Marie interjected, "We don't need any more enemies. We'll get through this, but attacking her will not solve anything."

Maya rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, refusing to sign anything else.

Adam, meanwhile, pulled out a rag and began to rub his bow. With all the commotion that happened earlier, he'd almost forgot to make sure his gear was nice and clean. It'd be better to show off to strangers, after all.

Edited by Masterofchaos on Jul 12th 2018 at 6:54:45 AM

The Scar (Ozurr; Jann, Varg; Rosalind)

As the truck pulled away, Ozurr shifted his positioning on the back to keep Krakka'a and Zarokh in view. Krakka'a glared at them as they drove off, raising two claws to point at his own eyes, and then at the retreating truck. Ozurr returned the gesture and continued to watch them, refusing to let them out of his sight even for a second until he was confident that they were out of range.

So he didn't even notice Rosalind had climbed onto the roof until she spoke to him.

"Huh? Oh." He sat down, carefully, so as not to overbalance the vehicle. "Honestly, I didn't even notice. I mean, I noticed that you were...er..anyway, but I don't think we were in any danger from those two after that lightning bit. The crawling one...Zarokh, I think it was...he didn't want to attack us unless his boss told him to, and Krakka'a...well, he may have been putting on a brave face, but trust me, he was terrified of us." He laughed. "Did you see the look on his face when I walked up? I thought he was gonna piss himself!"

Further north along the Scar (''Krakka'a, Zarokh)

Krakka'a watched as the vehicle departed, his self-preservation instinct just barely overpowering his urge to fly after them and rip their livers out through their anuses. That was twice now one of those strange mammals, working in concert with larger and more powerful allies, had gotten the better of him and forced him to retreat, which meant now he had two scores to settle.

He'd have to be smart about this. Loathe as he was to admit it, the four of them together were simply too strong for him to take head-on. Perhaps a divide-and-conquer technique was in order. But to do that, he would need to know more about them, and he couldn't risk getting close enough to observe without the blue one noticing. Of course, if he were to get his claws on that Artifact, that would change things considerably.

But first...

"Zarokh," he said, pointing at the center of the Scar. "Stand over there."

Uncertain, Zarokh crawled over to where Krakka'a had pointed. He had just enough time to turn around before Krakka'a launched himself at him, wings spread, feet forward. Zarokh just barely managed to shut his eyes before Krakka'a raked at them with his feet. He felt the massive pterosaur land on his back, turn around, and plant one front claw on the top of his head, his wing claws inches away from his right eye.

"First off, you do not undermine me in front of others. Especially not our enemies!"

"They would have killed us both!"

"Second," Krakka'a continued, planting his other wing claws beside Zarokh's left eye, "you do not try to make friends with our enemies unless I have approved it!"

"But they were-"

Zarokh was cut off by a massive hammer blow from Krakka'a's beak on the top of his head. On a less heavily-armored animal, that blow might have fractured his skull. As it was, Zarokh was pretty sure he could smell blood.

"Third, you do not talk back to me!" He dismounted from Zarokh and ambled back towards the edge of the Scar. Then, in a softer voice, he said "Look at you. What would your god think if he could see you now?"

Zarokh's eyes widened in horror.

"I bet he would be so disappointed in you. Do you think this is what he had in mind when he told you to work with me? Out here, in the hot sun, miles from any water, bleeding from your head, and all because you rolled over and showed your belly scales for some mammals."

"I can do better!"

Krakka'a shook his head. "I don't know. You haven't exactly been living up to the hype so far."

"I got you a location for the artifact, didn't I? The Coast of Chills."

"Hmm," Krakka'a said, in feigned contemplation. "I suppose that's true..."

"And the pyramid device we used to get here. I got you that."

"So you did. All right, so I suppose you may not be completely useless. But after this mess, you're going to need to start pulling your considerable weight around here."

Zarokh prostrated himself as best he could. "I will do anything to prove that I am worthy of the task I have been set."

Krakka'a gently patted Zarokh on the snout. "Oh, I have no doubt about that." Because now, he thought, with a sinister grin, you belong to me.

Rec Room of... Growing intrigue.

Whilst Felian mainly looks at Maequoql with cat-like curiosity, Explorer... Seems intrigued, in a subdued way. Finally, the rainbow-haired goddess speaks in a somewhat dismissive tone.

"Truly, your society must be smarter than the Brittles. Though Mae, my people are gods, there's nothing beyond us if we just put in enough effort. Which... Is my problem with Nao Ranay Nokt. Only an intelligent force could of engineered them. I digress, however..."

Shaking her right hand, Explorer looks off into the distance as she begins casually gesturing. Soon, she speaks in a much more casual and yet oddly... Focused tone.

"You're a group of heroes, yet little prince Mael made a fool out of your sisters. I don't like directly interfering, but... I could bring Psyche-chan out here. She's powerful enough to be a challenge. So, interested in my psychic princess?"

Rec Room of... Growing intrigue.

Whilst Felian mainly looks at Maequoql with cat-like curiosity, Explorer... Seems intrigued, in a subdued way. Finally, the rainbow-haired goddess speaks in a somewhat dismissive tone.

"Truly, your society must be smarter than the Brittles. Though Mae, my people are gods, there's nothing beyond us if we just put in enough effort. Which... Is my problem with Nao Ranay Nokt. Only an intelligent force could of engineered them. I digress, however..."

Shaking her right hand, Explorer looks off into the distance as she begins casually gesturing. Soon, she speaks in a much more casual and yet oddly... Focused tone.

"You're a group of heroes, yet little prince Mael made a fool out of your sisters. I don't like directly interfering, but... I could bring Psyche-chan out here. She's powerful enough to be a challenge. So, interested in my psychic princess?"

Hotel Lobby (Arilay, Shale and others) -> Hotel Restroom (Shale)

Shale simultaneously signed and spoke through Arilay's radio, "Make your plans, I'll catch up," then started slithering at the speed of a human's brisk walk (that was as fast as she could go) to the restroom. She would rather not get teleported where people would gawk and stare.

Arilay noted the group shuffle happening in front of her, waved "Bye, Moobly," and glanced at Valerie, wondering what the young girl's destination was. Arilay was a little sad to see Moobly leave, dragons were her favorite kind of animal.

Maequoql smiled, "Well, of course an intelligent force designed Nao Ranay Nokt. There's too many safety features on the way the magic of our universe works for there not to be an intelligent force behind it."

Maequoql squinted in concentration and moved to type on a computer terminal. She gestured to the onscreen report Morpho compiled, "I wouldn't say Mael was the one who made fools out of us. We would have had him on the first try if it weren't for interfering bystanders, like Vindex and that rabbit-eared girl. Mequoql's cunning and reflexes were dulled right up until Vindex showed up and scared her, and then that rabbit-eared girl meddled in things she didn't understand." She sighed and began pacing, "Anyway..."

"Psyche-chan sounds like an interesting challenge, but I'm on duty. I've got a planet to scan. However, I know of other Web members who would be interested, let me contact them..." She put out a broadcast on the communications channel, leaving out Syrni Sandra and Jen Jara, who were busy.

Shale surveyed the shadows. Between the white, recently cleaned tiles and the multiple light bulbs, the shadows in here were very weak. Shale slithered over to a sink, tested the tapwater with her hands, then cupped her hands and cautiously took a sip into her mouth. It tasted like ordinary tapwater to her. She drank a few more times through her mouth, then changed the procedure to pour some water over her head, casually avoiding her antennae. She repeated the pouring a few times until her pseudo-hair was damp all over. It started absorbing the water.

Nobody had barged in on her and there were no signs of movement in the stalls. Shale signaled the spaceship that she was ready for transport.

Shale slithered off the teleporter pad and typed on the nearest non-transport computer terminal. As she was doing so, two new Mayatans appeared on the spaceship's teleporter pad. Unlike Maequoql and her sisters, these Mayatans were tropical Mayatans, their body hair was as sparse as human body hair. The twins' spots had jagged, pointy spikes radiating from each center. Aynara's spots were denser than Arnaya's and touched at the spikes in a few places. The fraternal twin sisters looked at Shale, who seemed to be distracted, and they got identical mischievous smirks on their faces.

Shale wiggled an antenna and pointed it in the twins' direction, causing their smirks to disappear in disappointment as they got off the teleporter pad. That gesture was the Sleutrienn equivalent of pointing at your eyes and then at the other person. Shale soon had the reminder of which cache Arilay had placed the hoverboard in. Conveniently, it was right in this room, so Shale scooted over to retrieve it while the twins exited.

Town ~ Shopping District ~ Frontier Sporting Goods (Lily; Matiu)

Lily gave Matiu a soft smile at his enthusiasm, following him inside to peruse the store's goods as he went around getting everything he needed. She took a note of the ammunition, only to scowl at the boxes.

They were more or less legible, albeit with the occasional redundancies of lettering and the occasional puzzling glyph, but the numerals— she was assuming they were numerals— were pretty much all wrong. She sighed, and put the box she was holding back on the shelf. Her ammunition might work with another rifle; then again, the Cadian military had at least eight different sizes of rifle cartridges in their registered inventory.

Once her companion was all set, she escorted him outside before addressing him, “You got everything strapped down? I don't want you to drop anything while I fly you back to the truck.” She nodded her head slightly before pulling several straps, securing a few to her persons. She began moving to wrap them around Matiu and his backpack, "If you're already, I'll just need you to lift your arms a bit..."

Town ~ Shopping District ~ Street ~ Truck (Bonnie, Carol; NCH; Mequoql, Morpho; Dius, Vindex)

"Huh, the forest? Which direction is that again?" Carol asked.

Bonnie palmed her face, "Ugh, did you even read the map?"

"Nope."

"Oh for the love of Odessa—" Bonnie shook her head, ears twitching.

Carol guffawed from the driver's bench, "Odessa, huh? I pegged you as more of a follower o'Vera," she said, grinning at the lagokin.

Bonnie gave a glare in her comrade's direction. She took a deep breath before speaking, "Turn left here— wah!" She barely had time to brace herself as Carol suddenly turned, "Watch your driving, you dolt!" she shouted.

Her ears twitched in annoyance as she faced Maya, "Oh, and don't call me that! It's Bonnie, not Bunny!" Huffing, she sank back into her seat, her ears drooping. Casting her gaze to the floor, she started twiddling her thumbs as she nursed the dull ache in her chest.

Restaurant -> Hotel - Lobby (Leone, Others)

"Fair," Leone said simply to Sophia's reply.

After that she simply remained silent as the group made their way to the hotel to consult with this Cynthia person. Nora's new choice of form earned her a wary glance, but whatever Leone's thoughts were on it she chose not to voice them.

Most of her focus was on Cynthia's and Diantha's conversation as that was what was relevant to her and her group, but that didn't mean she wasn't well aware of the other groups in the hotel. In particular, she recognized the perpetrator of the earlier incident in another group. It seemed even now they were still causing a scene, although just what it was about she couldn't say. In any event, she made sure to keep an eye on it as well, just in case of any future incidents.

"...Just counting this town, it feels like I've seen enough to make a chameleon dragon seem normal," she commented after it was decided that Nora could go to the Wasteland with them, provided she was accompanied by the creature in question. She shook her head before following the pair of them out.

"We're planning on stopping for supplies first. Just so you two are aware," she said to Nora and Moobly.

Eris and Inanna listened closely as the two travelers described their earlier encounter with a strange man. Then they both gave Joseph a very confused look when he attempted to ask them a question apparently related to it.

After a couple moments of silence, Inanna spoke up. "...I think he said 'Neither one of you know Mael?'" She shook her head. "Never heard of him. But he sounds so nasty. I'm all for getting close, if you know what I mean, but it's not fun if everyone's not in on it!"

"Most likely, he was a malevolent spirit of some kind," Eris commented simply, "If the name wasn't any indication. We'll have to keep an eye out for him or other beings like him. All the more reason to try and find a way out of these woods."

At that, she opted to lead the way forwards, occasionally looking back to see how the rest

"Henry? Ooh, that has a nice ring to it~" Inanna replied to Henry's introduction, "Well Henry, I look forwards to getting to know you more~" At that, she hurried off after Inanna. Then she looked back briefly and tilted her head to one side curiously. "Also, what's a 'Cupid?'"

NEW CHARACTER

Edge of Town Square (Wain Fallwen)

Wain awoke to the smell of smoke and a pair of fuzzy dice in his face. He removed the dice and looked around his ship. Everything was in complete disarray. Wain then checked the glove department to see if the precious cargo was damaged. He yelped in horror when he saw what was left of it. His Oreo package had been utterly demolished. In frustration, he hit the dashboard of the ship, which hurt his hand, which only made him more pissed off, which made hit the dashboard again. This continued for about three minutes straight until Wain forced himself out of this vicious cycle and he started to remember how he got in this situation.

He'd been hired by some pompous-ass gangster to go kill another pompous-ass gangster. He could never remember the names of those guys, they had a weird habit of lacking vowels. Anyway, he'd put together a game plan: He would fly by the target's space mansion while he was inside and blow it to kingdom shit. Simple, yet effective.

Apparently too simple, as he was shot down by the target's goons a little too quickly than he would like to admit. Fortunately, Wain activated the Nearest Planet Finder and managed to evade the goons as he careened across space.

Wain looked around his current surroundings. It was nice and sunny, and there were no scavengers or giants man-eating worms to be found. Definitely top 10 on the list of best planets he'd crash-landed at. There were even some buildings up ahead. Buildings generally meant there were a) people and b) people that were civilized enough to not kill him on sight.

"Hey, anybody there?!", Wain yelled as loud as he could.

Edited by Paulred7 on Jul 14th 2018 at 2:37:16 AM

_{^< cont. from} Forest, Ruins - Washingtonians and Sumerians _{^> Henry, Joseph - Eris, Inanna}


Inanna's guess hadn't been what Joseph was trying to ask, but given that his actual question was terribly unimportant, and given how difficult it would be to explain the U.S. Postal Service to the two Sumerians with his tongue tied in an oversized knot, he decided wisely to not pursue it any further. If nothing else, shrugging things off still came naturally.

He wasn't entirely sure what to make of Eris's idea that Mael had been a spirit. It would have explained his sudden appearance, possibly his odd appearance, and of course his swift disappearance, but if a spirit was—as he imagined—like a ghost, then wouldn't it have passed through Henry, unable to touch him? Granted, there was an enormous probability that what he imagined was far different from the kind of 'spirit' Eris was referring to. Given that the past day and a half alone had consisted of turning into a lizard-creature overnight, and running into a pair of interdimensional, magical 'gift' bearing travelers in the middle of the woods, Joe was more than willing to defer to the experts on such matters.


"Well, consider the feeling..." Henry put his cap back on his head, turning it to a snug fit as he smiled, "...mutual."

In truth, he wasn't entirely sure where he was going, but he felt he had something of a handle on Inanna's flirtatious bearing. It might be fun to play along. Who knew?

"Oh, right, Cupid," he said, following closely behind the two women, "I'm no buff on the subject, but to my understanding, Cupid is a deity in the... Greek...? Wait..." he paused for a moment, then turned slightly to call, "Hey J-"

To his surprise, Joseph was still sitting back on the bottommost step of the ruins, looking lost in thought. Henry was about to finish his call when something about the scene struck him in a very strange way. As he thought about it, it wasn't hard to see why; it was a very strange scene. An odd creature sitting at the foot of a mysterious ruins, encapsulated within a dark woods, lit only by the dim light filtered through the trees and Inanna's fading, fiery light. The only semblance of modernity or humanity came in the form of Joseph's brightly colored jacket, pants, and shoes. It was almost like he'd stepped into a scene out of a fantasy film, or somewhere altogether more spiritual.

Henry touched the side of his face. Both sides struggled against the damp chill of the forest, but, slowly, he felt the warmth of his cheek spread through his fingers. In the same way, the image before him pressed itself into his mind, and his mind pressed back, and he felt, for a moment, just how real it was.

"...Hey Joseph."

Silently, Joe raised his head, looking first at, then past Henry. His eyes widened and he leaned forward, sliding off the step before rushing in a wild, stumbling gait to catch up.

"Whoa, careful! Hey, if you like the scenery, you're totally welcome to stay, I just needed you to answer a question."

Joseph gave Henry a close approximation of a very funny look, his long mouth selling the frown quite well.

"Like I said, it's your choice. Anyway, Cupid is Greek, right?"

Joe shrugged. "Nevuh med him."

"Oh," Henry chuckled like someone with the flu, glancing briefly at Inanna and Eris, "oh, what a hoot, this guy. But seriously."

Joe shrugged again, though a little more genuinely. "I lunno... pwrabableeh? Duth he weah a toghla?"

"A toga? Are those Greek?" Henry squinted, furrowing his brow and tilting his head, "I think he's usually naked, isn't he?"

Joe paused before shrugging a third time. He hadn't studied for a humanities quiz in a long while. "Duth it wrillly madah?"

"Psh, a lot of help you turned out to be."

Again, the very funny look came out, though this time with an alarming hint of what seemed like genuine dejection.

"Hey, Joe, come on," he reached a hand out, hesitating a moment too long before resting it on one of Joseph's shoulders, which turned out to be a little smaller than the jacket made it look, leaving him with a bit of an awkward grip. In days of yore, he would have just messed with Joe's hair, and in its absence, he was almost tempted to pet him on the head like a puppy, but somehow doubted that Joe would take the gesture very well. So the shoulder it was. "You know I'm kidding. Now, can I trust you to be our rearguard? Stay with the group, keep your eyes and ears open, call out if that Mael guy or something weirder turns up"

Joseph paused for a moment, the pointy tips of a few teeth sticking down out of his mouth as he thought. Finally, he tucked his thumbs into his pockets, lowered his eyelids into a leisurely droop, and—of course—shrugged. "Whey naht?"

"Thatta man." Henry gave his shoulder a quick pat, then turned back to the Sumerians. "So, right, Cupid. Cupid is a deity from some western mythology—probably Greek—who is naked most of the time, flies around with little wings, has a bow and arrow, and shoots people to fill them with uh... intense desire."

He furrowed his brow, thinking about what he'd just said and how it might sound to who he'd just said it to. It already sounded a little baffling to him.

"Oh, but uh, this deity isn't the kind that actually exists and could uh, ascend people and turn them into lizards or whateveryoulike. It's more of... just a story." He tightened his lips. "I'm... pretty sure?"

Edited by Ryuhza on Jul 31st 2018 at 2:26:48 AM