Mausoleum II: Stairdancing The Multiverse

Andradite - getting out of dodge

"You don't understand - I need that back! My memories -" In the heat of the moment, distracted by the crystallization of observations into plans, Andy's animal friends seemed to be having trouble grasping the importance of getting that piece of her back at all costs.

Before she could impress on them further, those plans of theirs flipped from theory to application, and then things got really hectic. The tetrahedron lamp's chain - which had, let's be honest, been doing a pretty good job supporting the weight of two hundred and fifty extra kilograms of upset crystal - gave up its grip on the ceiling and sent its charge hurtling towards Begonia. At the same tome, Asmodius had scooped Andy up again and dived towards the secret exit.

Somewhere along the line she was jostled free of Asmodius' grip, leaving her sailing through the air of the cabaret along a distressingly ballistic trajectory.

Andradite was not as nimble as one of the diamonds, those improbably maneuverable lunarian-fighting elites. But she had been trained by one of them, and on the broader scales of organic life, the difference between a nimble and a sluggish gem was actually quite small. Flipping in mid-air to right herself, Andy deflected and slowed herself with a tiny tap of a foot against a decorative shelf full of bottles, and then again off the top of a certain Ante Magyckian's carapace, before hitting the floor with just a slight stumble and barrelling out the back door past Kayne and Moko and the Kindred.

Skidding to a halt, the gem paid surprisingly little attention to the crackling purple confrontation, turning and looking for all the world like she was about to charge right back into the club, a look of desperation painted across her half-a-face.

Edited by LittleMako on Jan 19th 2019 at 4:26:48 AM

Kayne & Moko—What Are Friends For?

"Oy. Andy," Kayne said, closing the back door to Mama Jupiter's. "I believe this is yours."

Reaching inside Moko and rummaging around for a bit, she grabbed the Piece and held it towards Andradite.

"No need to thank me. But if you will, put in a good word with Rufus for me," she said, winking.

Mama Jupiter’s Colossal Cabaret -> Streets of Dive

The crisp, cool air of Dive whistled both above and below the pointed cylindrical constructs on either side of Magicaloid’s head, filtering through to her mechanical eardrums as a pleasant, banal whirr to undercut the dynamic flashes of purple cutting into the edges of her vision like afterimages from sun-staring that decided to take the initiative. A burst of what seemed to be purple lightning may have struck close by, and Magicaloid’s eyes might have widened as she attempted to swerve, before possibly adjusting course again and maybe shaking her head to quash her growing headache.

Magicaloid would've been hard-pressed to believe that things had somehow managed to get worse at Old Maken’s than at Mama Jupiter’s, but judging from the spectacle taking up the space anywhere from a million miles to two feet above her head, they had found a way. Makoto also couldn’t tell if she was imagining Claudia sagging around her like a balloon losing air, and tried not to think about what that might do to her grip, or what her speed might do to the waitress if she fell, or how both speeding up or slowing down could make it worse in their own way.

But one thought managed to cut through the chatter; if Kaguya wasn't up there, it probably meant she was still down here.

Magicaloid alighted within spitting distance of Old Maken’s front door, unimpressed with how Claudia’s taller form sagged around her like a little girl coveting a precious stuffed animal. But before she could spend any time worrying about the dignity of her arrival—

“Maken is dead!”

“Dead?” Makoto parroted dumbly, somewhat disproportionately hung up on how Kaguya’s billowing-sleeves had been replaced with crimson, dripping ones. Adjusting Claudia like a particularly uncooperative backpack, Makoto cocked her head forward like an inquisitive parakeet, the wounded waitress jostling in time with her frazzled, dazzled steps forward that took her uncomprehending, faintly manic expression closer and closer to Kaguya's face. "How dead? Did you—? Did he—?" She pieced together vaguely into words, gesturing that same pointed construct up toward the heavens, almost poking her human cargo in the eye in the process—prompting her expression to briefly flatten and collect itself, mustering up a short, surreal calm in the name of introductions. "This is Claudia, by the way. Dear god—!" Her widened eyes reflected and refracted the latest burst of purple light as they took in Kaguya's squelching red. Magicaloid was momentarily lost in the highly, uncomfortably visible inner workings of Kaguya's forearms, prompting her to gently yet absently shift Claudia to her far shoulder as she reluctantly yet firmly scooched forward. "Why don't you let me take ahold of this—" She said, her words heavy with both disgust and a What-Are-You-Doing,-You-Shouldn't-Be-Holding-This-Without-Skin admonishment, before gingerly attempting to lift the umbrella-saber from the lunarian princess's grasp. Whether she was successful or not, she would then use her newly-free shoulder to keep the door to Old Maken' propped open, and in a tone generally only used with children, small animals, and people who are bleeding out that you don't want to freak out even when you're kind of freaking out yourself, bade her inside. "Let's get you some bandages. I don't think Maken'll mind, yeah?" Jesus Christ, are those eyes?

Edited by Uncandescent on Jan 20th 2019 at 7:15:17 AM

Inside Mama Jupiter's Colossal Cabaret

As Kyxe's steam shot in spumes through the cluster of thugs at the backdoor, the chaos grew even more intense, so much so that no-one could actually get out. From the opposite side of the cabaret, completely unharmed, Begonia stared after Kayne, a new expression written all across his pretty face -

Complete shock.

"You're not allowed to do that! That's... that's cheating!"

So saying, he pulled a wand from his cloak, only to realise that he no longer had his cloak and was effectively unarmed. He was wearing a baby-blue sleeveless jerkin, white shorts and high socks, and a pair of blue suede shoes, all of which combined with his butterfly hairpin and bare arms to make him look rather less intimidating than he otherwise might have been.

"Waaaah!"

In a clear panic, he clapped both hands to the closest table.

"Translocate Object! And Self!"

The table disappeared, along with Begonia, only to rematerialise five meters above Kyxe's head.

Girimehkala; The Seedy Air Of Dive

You hear the snap of gristle as Mad Jack's shoulder pops and falls, spinning, into nothingness. The instability ceases briefly, and you crash, abruptly into the physical universe once more, Mad Jack yowling beneath you.

As you crash into the pavement by the back of the Cabaret, Jack-first, the chronal core ignites, folds half of an unrealised continuum into itself, then explodes in a beautiful lilac bloom.

Mad Jack dies instantly. You vanish almost entirely, your consciousness nine-tenths scattered and one-tenth present, sucked into a licking purple point of light. The dregs of your consciousness, altogether put-out with this turn of affairs, decides to give in and come back later. This isn't the first time, after all.

Lilac, mauve, heliotrope, phlox. Purpureus, eminence, byzantium, palatinate, and then something darker than purple and quite beyond black.

Old Maken's Shop Of Mysteries

Claudia, who by now was completely white, shook and chattered to no avail. To Makoto, the flash of purple light might seem of little consequence - practically everything in this godforsaken town was purple, after all. But through the ruined wall, Kaguya would see something with her time-tuned eyes:

A rift, opening up space-time like a spiraling scalpel, just like the sinkhole in the guts of Dive.

Something that only someone with power over Eternity had any hope of stopping.

Makoto, meanwhile, would find the bandages under a fallen shelf, together with a whole host of medical supplies, none of which looked entirely clear-cut. The most obvious salve was an ointment in an unmarked bottle, marked with a bright red cross and the words 'Doctor Dimmond's Dee-lightful Cure-All' on them: unfortunately, the bottle was also open, and bubbling faintly.

It smelt very dry, like vodka in a hospice lounge.

Outside Mama Jupiter's Colossal Cabaret

Back in reality, Andradite, Kayne, Moko, and everyone with them would see the much more prosaic version of events.

A large meaty gray shape, which almost resolved itself into Girimehkala in the brief seconds of its existence, appeared out of thin air on the back of a large meaty pink shape. They then hit the ground and exploded.

The black vortex that emerged from the purple flames looked mildly alarming, and also rather out-of-place. It also seemed to be getting bigger.

Also, the Cabaret mob was still falling over itself at the door, trailing steam.

Edited by troydenite on Jan 30th 2019 at 12:09:20 AM

Mama Jupiter's Colossal Cabaret

Thankfully for Kyxe's currently vulnerable ability to speak, she had kept her guard up for this exact situation. Though granted she wasn't expecting a table of all things. She was more expecting a strike or a shot, but it'd have to do.

Her ears twitched as the warped crackle of displacing air assaulted her hearing, and she opened her eyes wide—throwing herself back into a handspring as she sent a wave of plasma out of her foot in the form of an upwards kick; hot and potent enough to gouge right through the table and cut it in half. Regaining her balance, she generated her signature daggers in each hand once more with a shower of sparks—squinting through the steam in an attempt to pinpoint Begonia.

“Rude, child. Why not stick around? You most certainly seemed to enjoy our company at first,” she called out.

She paid no mind to the phenomenon nearby, nor the scrabbling mob. She was more ticked at him moreso than anything or anyone else. So her attention was focused rather intently.

Was it the blood loss, or the strangeness of this fight making the time it took to look up at Makoto painfully elongated?

...Oh, nope, nope, it's the blood loss. The same draining cold spreading up and down her limbs that she had felt repeatedly through the years was a telltale sign. It'd be...hmm, probably a minute or so this time.

She relinquished the sword and all of the free blood included with it pretty easily, as she started to sway in place. The gash in her forehead was making it hard to see Makoto, but even despite the pain she tried to give her most reassuring smile. "You're...probably right, but I don't think you'll have that many...banda..."

That feeling in the back of her head appeared, and grew stronger. There was something coming out from...well, far be it to guess when, but whatever it was, Kaguya didn't feel up to fighting something again.

Far from closing it, Kaguya let it open. It would take a very long time, an eternity to be exact, but there wasn't anything wrong with it opening at all. Just not now. Whoever was visiting could wait a while.

With the manipulation of forever out of the way, Kaguya looked back to Makoto as she tried to stumble back into the building, with some of the eyes on her arms seemingly closing in happiness. She opened her mouth to speak, and fell over again.

Andradite - Streets of Dive

Andradite turned at the osund of her name, and face lit up as a flash of green twinkled in Kayne's hand. Gasping, she darted forwards, hands outstretched.

"Kayne! Thank you!" She took the piece of her cheek in her hands, her relief palpable as she cradled it to her chest. "Oh, I will! I'll tell Rufus to give you a tab! He might even actually do it too!" Her thumbs stroked over the edges of the shard, relieved to feel it all in one piece, no cracks or chips. All she needed now was a quiet moment and a pot of resin and... was that Giri in that flaming purple vortex?

With her most pressing distraction out of the way, the gem was free to actually pay attention to her surroundings. She looked at the black rift, cocking her head... then cocking it a little further... then turning to look at the bulging and shuddering door back to the cabaret.

"I think we should run? Running seems pretty good right now."

Streets of Dive -> Old Maken’s Shop of Mysteries

“I just need you to—” Makoto’s mouth started, churning out a sentence on autopilot, as she unceremoniously plopped Claudia down in the doorway to take on the full brunt of Kaguya’s weight, which seemed to get heavier as if the blood was flowing out only to soak back in. Makoto stumbled, swooned, and swayed, wrangling Kaguya in a hellish tango and trying to spit out words all the while. “You need to stand—I can’t help you if you don’t—Kaguya, I can’t—where do I hold you—if I sit still, will you let me down—I mean—I mean—”

Magicaloid ended up setting her against one of the intact storage shelves in a sitting position, trying to sit her upright against the wood. Makoto reflexively reached up a mechanical hand to either brow—and only noticed too late the line of red trailing down past her unblinking eye. That’s—that’s—! The magical robot girl looked down at her black-metal hands, more covered in red than not, and felt her insides quake back and forth like she’d been hollowed out and made into a washing machine. I can’t—I have to— She thought just as hollowly, her hands wiping absently against her chassis as her mind segued into a wholly organic Safe Mode, until her digits were black again enough to surge into her pack, remove her Magical Phone, and navigate over to a very particular app.

The interior of the shop would be bathed in a faint, cheery pink glow, in ironic defiance of the macabre scene taking place inches from a pair of newly-manifested sneakers, as the form of Magicaloid would peel off into a series of rapidly-fading pink bubbles, getting perplexingly taller in the process even as futuristic plastic was traded out for well-worn street clothes. By the time Makoto had a normal human stomach to properly feel the nausea, she feared that she’d made a mistake; but by the time she had a human throat, ready and primed with all-too-human bile, it was already too late. Her sneakers squeaked against the floor of the shop as the newly-unveiled Makoto raced behind Old Maken’s desk, bending over as if punched before retching her guts out into the space behind—and then, once she was finished, whether from the sudden onslaught of the shop’s smell or the lingering aftertaste of ammonia, her guts squeezed out again.

Behind the old man’s desk, panting on all fours as she got a good look at everything she’d eaten, drank, or even accidentally swallowed over the past twenty-four hours, she felt a strange sense of calm overtake her. She felt her human heartbeat begin to slow, her human sweat begin to grow lukewarm, her human breaths growing less frequent and more shallow. The blood was gone, for the moment, and her hands were clean of the all-encompassing red.

And off to her side, was a flash of pink.

Makoto emerged from behind the desk with a torn-off section of pink towel tied off behind her head to cover her mouth and nose, looking for all the world like a pastel bandito as she cradled strips of the towel’s kin in her off-hand. Her stomach surged once more as her brain took in a grisly snapshot of the scene, but she shoved it off, assisted by a lack of remaining bile, and skittered past to the opposite shelf, frantically searching through the assortment of knick-knacks and gee-gaws like a looter on Doomsday.

Her foot kicked against the wayward first-aid kit when she already had an armful of supplies, causing her eyes to widen and her sneaker to snag it before teasing it out of the rubble. Setting everything down, she popped open the case, stared in incomprehension at the interdimensional medical tools that meant absolutely nothing to her, and settled for chucking nearly all of it save for a mysterious bubbling liquid that was at the very least readable, even as she carefully sported it in her hand to make up for the lack of a cap. She used her other hand to shovel everything into the kit, close it, and slide everything over to Kaguya’s splayed form in a kind of bent-over half-shuffle, before glancing back and realizing that somewhere in the whole process she’d completely forgotten about Claudia, holding the door open.

Resolving to tackle that in a second, Makoto reached back and placed the open liquid on the high surface of Maken’s desk so that she wouldn’t knock it over, stopped in front of Kaguya, and carefully maneuvered around the rushing rivers of blood while privately hoping that she wasn’t already too late. Reaching up to tear one of the towels in half with her teeth before realizing that would be unbelievably unsanitary, the thrifty teen instead settles for using her wholly human strength to rip the fabric into strips, until she deemed they were both wide and long enough for the task at hand. Leaning in, trying not to lose her nerve over the lack of color in the other woman’s cheeks, Makoto would carefully wrap the segment of towel around the nearest section of arm, the blood immediately staining the camellia scarlet. Wincing and suppressing a lump of fresh disgust surging up her throat, she completed the towel’s circuit around the arm, pinching it tight. Bringing over the next towel with her free hand, she would wrap that around as well, and then a third time with a third towel. You were right about one thing, Makoto thought as she fumbled through her chest of wonders, we definitely didn’t have enough bandages… Taking a length of nylon rope she’d pilfered from the display, she quickly wove it around the slightly-damp length of flush towel before it could unravel, bringing it together at the top before sticking her tongue out the side of her mouth while she corralled a knot out of it. She did this three times altogether, at both ends along with the first knot in the middle, before she ended up with a makeshift cast that would most likely make any actual doctor reach for their heart medication. Makoto sat back on her haunches, letting out a slow, exhausted breath, before rippling her shoulders, flipping her hands about, and getting to work on the second one.

Apologizing silently in advance, the teen skipped wrapping each individual digit in favor of weaving the fingers together in great gauzy wedges, more fit to shovel snow rather than to actually pick anything up, before guiding the roll of bandages in a winding motion around the palm, then the wrist, and finally where the lack-of-skin ended and the light-crimson of the towel began. She then completed the process by doing the same to the other hand, finding it surreal how calm she’d become somewhere within the fit of fluids and viscera. “If you die now, I’m gonna be really pissed.” She said, and was surprised at how much it almost sounded like a joke, prompting a smile that gradually faded as she turned towards the door. Hard to believe that the job’s only half over… She thought to herself, as she hooked her arms under either of Claudia’s armpits and made to drag her inside, cursing whatever arcane magical square-cube law made this exponentially more difficult than before despite being a full foot taller. Lying Claudia down on her back as gently as the teen could manage, she then crouched down and stared helplessly at Claudia’s arm, pulsing red just past the edge of her sneaker like the bulbous root of a diseased vegetable. The part-time magical girl’s face tensed as she considered all of her options, but she didn’t need an MD to know that the limb needed to be disinfected, not bound up. Her gaze once again fell to the bubbling concoction on the counter, humming faintly with an antiseptic smell that might have been comforting if it wasn’t set against the olfactory backdrop of so much thick, organic pulp. Climbing to her feet, Makoto moved back over to it cautiously, very aware of the splayed arm throbbing painfully in time with the woman’s heartbeat, and found the bottle with her palm, running her thumb over the label as if it could give up some kind of hidden secret. After a moment, she realized she was just staring at the back of her own hand. Another moment later, she realized why.

With a small, throaty groan, she reminded herself of the benefits of helping this woman and figuring out who was behind everything they just went through even as she turned and went over to the nearest crumpled shelf, searching through the splintered depths for one thing in particular—and found it, sticking out of the edge of the pile like the handle in a block of chef’s knives, a piece of wood as thin and sharp as an overlarge rose thorn. Makoto gingerly pulled it out at the same time she steadily sucked in a breath between her teeth, eternally mindful of splinters as she took hold of it and then turned it around in her grasp, weighing it gently as though she were preparing to throw it in a circus act. She let her inhaled breath out, scooted back over to grab the bubbling ointment, set everything down in Claudia’s vicinity, and finally fished her hand around in her pocket for the comforting and already seemingly long-estranged warmth of her smartphone. Setting the three items reluctantly in a row, she checked them over again as if any would supply a reason to second-guess herself, before taking another breath as steeling as any robotic chassis and grabbing the wooden shard underhanded. Lifting it up, she would then splay her other hand on the ground where it was reasonably free of any debris, and take her time carefully maneuvering the sharp wooden tip nearer to her skin, until she had it semi-comfortably primed just past the knuckle of her pinky. Wondering if she should have gotten something to clench between her teeth, something more sanitary to be the blade, or anything less crazy for her go-to plan, she decided that she needed to act right that second before she lost her nerve and drew the spike across the back of her hand. Letting out a pained hiss that would then transition into a full-blown yelp by the time it had finished tracing a bloodied, diagonal trail across her hand, she would then reach for the bottle of salve, missing it once in her haste before grabbing hold tight, and bringing it over to her bleeding limb to dab a thin line across the equally-thin wound.

She would hastily set the ointment down to a liquid-sloshing stop before grabbing and raising her phone up high above her head, primed with the Magical Girl Raising Project app even as her eyes held tight on the back of her hand. If it started to hiss, or burn, or grow tentacles, or do absolutely anything other than ‘Cure-All’, Makoto’s thumb wouldn’t hesitate to press down, aiming to transform into her far-more-durable and far-less-organic magical girl form with the hopes of alleviating the worst of the damages. However, if the elixer proved true to its name, and the wound began to stop hurting, stop bleeding, or even visibly heal, Makoto would wait a minute for the effects to fully take root in order to be safe before moving over and carefully applying it to the worst spots on Claudia’s arm.

Kayne & Moko—A Simple Plan

Kayne paid no mind to Andradite's suggestion to run. The Rift had seemingly stopped opening, though it still seemed to be causing some amount of consternation.

Well, first things first—she picked up a couple of planks and braced them against the back door of Mama Jupiter's. Then she slung Begonia's cloak over her shoulders.

Then she turned to face the rest of the party.

"Can fix. Need parts," she said, in short, clipped sentences. "Moko. Divert all magical energies to mind."

"Oh...she's in a temper..." Moko lamented, but did as Kayne asked. He waved his arms and even more red runes flared up on Kayne. Her pupils were dilated.

Kayne could hear her blood roaring in her ears as she cracked open abandoned crates to look at their rusty contents. She started monologuing aloud, which prompted a groan from Moko. "Here we go again..."

"The power cell slot and firing mechanisms of the Model X312 are able to convert different types of energies. So with a few modifications to the firing mechanism, we can convert the energies of the Rift to an alternate form of energy, by which we can counter the anomaly..." she lectured, talking to nobody in particular, babbling a few more formulae for this kind of thing, which made her sound like she was chanting some kind of spell.

Those modifications turned out to be forcing several almost-empty power cells to link up to the power cell slot via a tangle of wires, then linking that to the firing mechanism (which had been bent double and had some wires inside it swapped around), which had a light switch forcibly bolted to it. That, in turn, was linked to the mouth of an empty fire extinguisher.

"Here goes nothing!" Kayne proclaimed, suddenly cheerful again, as Moko covered his eye and clenched his teeth.

Kayne flipped the light switch.

The apparatus whined and started glowing as energy started being sent into the power cell slot to be received, and then into the firing mechanism to be converted. Presumably the fire extinguisher was supposed to hold the alternate form of energy after it had been converted.

Whether or not the whole thing would implode was anyone's guess.

Kaguya's eyes opened again, not by any choice of her own.

In comparison to the near-delirium she felt a minute or so ago, her mind was completely clear. She often found that to be the case in times like this; dying often makes thinking hard.

This last death was wholly unremarkable, but she came out of it a bit worse for wear. The princess could feel the now lukewarm blood covering her front side, and how it had pooled around her arms. She also felt...

Kaguya lifted an arm in front of her face. Bandages? Oh dear, that friend of hers really worked her heart out for no reason. Past all the blood and gauze, she could tell she at least was now thankfully back down to only two eyes, and with a surplus of skin. There was a moment she wondered if that would be sticking.

...Shame about her dress, though. It was completely ruined...

Oh, right, her friend. She...she'd either be scared out of her mind, or gain an incredible boost in her medical confidence. Both weren't very desirable. These bandages didn't seem to be soaked in alcohol or anything. Well, she seemed to...

Who was this?

She could only vaguely remember what happened immediately before, so maybe some memories had fallen out alongside her blood. Maybe this young girl was responsible for the valiant attempt at saving her life, and Magicaloid had gone off...somewhere.

Kaguya rose, trying to keep her feet quiet (not easy with how squishy the floor was). "You're an unfamiliar face, aren't you..."

Keeping this girl's wits in check now took a backseat to figuring out this situation. The one below her (Claudia, was it?) seemed to have been at the worse end of a viper. Magicaloid must've left her in this girl's care.

"I'll help you with her if you tell me where that robot has gone off to," she said. There was a sudden, serious edge to her tone.

Edited by wikkit on Feb 6th 2019 at 7:44:33 AM

Girimehkala: Down and Out in Golarion, Down and Out in Dive

As you pass the centre of the storm, no longer thinking, the world of self is blinded. The darkness reflects nothing, and no boundary of separation presents itself - you fill the void in its entirety, and insodoing you leave it utterly empty. You were but a thought, and the thought is passing.

You've passed through here before. A word bubbles to the forefront, a syllable forbidden here, and the word is "I". The thought observes itself, and you recognize yourself in the reflection.

The void retreats from you, darkness illuminated, and finds itself in separation from its contents. You chant the litany of your names, your lives, and in the process secure a narrative. Personality follows in accretion, and by repetition the rest becomes second nature. You come to no epiphanies, and in reconstruction understand no deeper truths about yourself. This is your particular talent.

In time, you are whole. As you reach beyond your confines in searched of unprotected gametes and malleable flesh, you meet five pillars at the edge of the universe.

Piss

"Piss," agrees Charvaka, who is the Grand Delusion and your master eternal, and closes his hand around you.

Maken's Repository of Reincarnation.

I'm the rafters, Maken's surving testicle pulses once with higher purpose, and in silent shrieks called imploringly to its brother flesh. Maken falls upwards in a crimson slurry and coalesce into a bulging silhouette, multiplying and cracking obscenely, until the red rawness fills itself enough to fade to brownish-gray. Cloth and leather weave themselves from thin air, and a couple of hundred pounds of steel manifest into their appropriate holsters.

Girimehkala lands on the floorboards with a heavy crack and a quiet grumble, carefully pulling his feet out of the holes, and spits out one of Maken's stray teeth. He glances from Kaguya's bloody chest to the medical instruments, to the bleeding halfways-corpse to the nervous stranger, and then back to Kaguya's tits. With profound conviction, the room remains unread.

"I miss somethin'?"

Edited by OG-Sama on Feb 7th 2019 at 4:35:08 AM

Old Maken's (?) Shop (?) Of Magical Mysteries (!)

Makoto's caution was well-advised: for a brief, terrifying instant, her entire arm locked up, and a spasm of cold shot through her wrist at five points, like a star. But the ache vanished as soon as it came, and the gash in her thumb formed a sudden scab, then peeled, leaving nothing but smooth pink skin beneath.

Doctor Dimmond knew what he was doing, apparently.

Claudia jerked and whimpered as the salve hissed on her arm, then fell into blessed silence. She was still very white, and as haggard as a corpse, but she was no longer bleeding, and the angry red swelling around her wound had died away entirely.

"PASIPHAE'S TEATS, WHAT HAPPENED HERE?"

The figure at the door was large, one-horned, and triangularly hatted. His jaw was agape, his nose-ring was shaking, and his good eye was as wide as a porthole. The quantum blunderbuss in his hands lolled limply.

"Is that Old Maken?" cried Rufus. "What'd you do to his shop? Why's he dead? And what happened to those pink towels I told Andy to get?"

It was at this point that Girimehkala burst out of Old Maken's right testicle, liquifying the corpse, spinning the remains and spattering the minotaur with a mixture of blood and unmentionable fluids.

Rum-Eyed Rufus adjusted his tricorne, cupped his artificial eye, squinted, then finally folded his arms and sighed.

"Ah, Giri. Of course. Anyways, I should probably tell you that whatever you've done, it's opened up a new Sinkhole right by the Cabaret. And my ol' space-dog senses tell me that if it reaches the ol' Sinkhole, the one everyone comes here for to begin with, then a big ol' multi-dimensional tryst is going to happen, and whatever mess comes next won't be pretty."

He tapped his good horn and hummed, clearly deep in thought.

"You do have options, however. Who feels up to fetching Addward?"

Inside Mama Jupiter's Colossal Cabaret

"I'm not sticking around!" squeaked Begonia. "I'm a very one-time, no-committment sorta fella! Bye!"

The young artificer, shrouded along with the rest of the crowd in steam, was scrambling at the front door like a wet mouse. Unfortunately, what he failed to see was the fist planted firmly in the way of his nose.

"Oof!"

With a noise much like a broken duck, Begonia flipped over, tumbled spectacularly, and hit the floor, completely out.

"That'll teach you," said the first mustachioed bouncer, cracking his knuckles with a look of ponderous satisfaction. "No running on the premises."

"That it will," said the second, closing the door behind him. "Hey, you lot. I don't know what this brat told you, but he's underage, anyway, so it doesn't count. You're all banned. Quiet down and let me get to Mama."

The mob, finally realising that their hypothetical reward had vanished into thin air, decided to shut up, count its dead and perhaps lick its wounds. They gave Kyxe an extremely wide berth. The second bouncer pulled a small bottle of Doctor Dimmond's from his pocket and moved over to Mama Jupiter.

"No hard feelings," he said, clearly more for the party's sake than anyone else's. "This happens about once a year. Granted, this time it wasn't so bad..."

It was at this point that the back door cracked, broke open completely, and flew, along with three screaming gang members, into a purple void.

Outside Mama Jupiter's Colossal Cabaret

The device was working completely fine. Kayne's jury-rigged converter was a nice shade of lilac, the rift was funneling into the cells and dissipating... it was almost as if they were receiving help from someone not-too-far-away. Someone very dead.

This, of course, persisted for about five minutes, until the overloaded power-cells popped, the chronal energy blew back down the tubes, the fire extinguisher burst, and the pinhole rift turned into the glassy eye of a submarine porthole.

The only thing that saved Kindred, Andradite, Kayne, and Moko from immediate chronological destruction was the fact that the blow-out was sideways. Kindred, Andradite and Moko would feel a skin-chilling, soul-sucking suction, like fingers crawling in their mouths. Their thoughts, their memories, even their immediate perceptions would flow sideways and out, mingling, spreading through dilated time like a drug-induced dream.

But Kayne, from this angle, would feel nothing at all.

Three screaming figures flew straight into the rift and vanished, sucked into the still-small hole like water down a drain. The back door hit the hole and held, before folding in half and shaking, wildly, in the center of the void.

Edited by troydenite on Feb 9th 2019 at 11:52:12 PM

Mama Jupiter's Colossal Cabaret

Kyxe ignored the space the mob gave her, dismissing her constructs with a flick of the wrist as she cautiously approached the bouncers and the barely-living Mama Jupiter.

“I have an emergency field kit in my jacket; if you'd give me a moment. It may be of some assis–”

The back door imploding cut her off, and she realised with a start that her feet were dragging across the floor. With her lighter form proving to be a detriment, she fought against the force threatening to suck her away and back behind the bar—pressing her back up against it and craning her neck so as to spot the cause of this disturbance.

A... singularity.

She blanched.

“I'd advise a change in establishment. You seem to attract large-scale crises moreso than you do typical incidents,” she droned, concentrating plasma into a crackling ball in her palm and carefully taking aim. “Either this'll benefit us or kill us all, but in either case I'd still suggest you cover your ears. Make space!” she yelled—this time more for the benefit of those outside.

Seconds after, an arcing, almost liquid blast of white heat rocketed over their heads and barely missed striking them with its own electrical discharges; the odd streak of plasma melting through select portions of the floor and ceiling as opposed to simply setting them alight. Kyxe waited until it was about to impact the vortex, before shooting out a much smaller burst from her fingertips—aiming to detonate the volatile projectile mid-flight while it was in the process of being sucked in itself.

...This is probably why I haven't been promoted yet, thinking about it.

Streets of Dive, Outside Mama Jupiter's

"Is this what it feels like to End?" Wolf mumbled, confused.

Memories of ages, of years before the oldest oak was an acorn, flowed from them into the abyss before them. Lamb moaned, rising to her hooves, her eyes slightly dim beneath her mask.

"I do not know," She whispered back, "for this is not our End."

Drawing her bow even as Wolf returned to her side, she straddled him backwards, Wolf carrying her away from the singularity while she took aim and fired. Almost like a machine gun she unleashed ethereal arrows into the hole, hoping that they would, if not stop it, then at least slow the encroaching of the dark.

Kayne & Moko

Kayne lunged forward right away after Kyxe and Lamb fired their own shots—they passed right in front of her face but miraculously didn't hit her—to grab Moko, who, light as he was, was being sucked away by the singularity.

The good news was that she got him. She hugged him tight to her chest, and he hugged her right back.

The bad news was that she was now caught within the pull of the singularity, which was like a strong wind.

Kayne grit her teeth and leaned against the pull. One dark corner of her mind thanked the heavens that something was preventing the rift from reopening, while another was asking Is this how it ends? Yet another was laughing madly, practically shrieking with a twisted sort of mirth.

She pushed past the detached thankfulness, the resigned apathy, and the cynical madness. Kayne took a step forward, and braced once more, fighting the rift and the memories it took.

The world around Kayne fractured like a mirror, and her figure became only vaguely visible in the distance (when did she get that far?).

Then Kayne started flickering back and forth between different ages and times, the world around her warping to form scenes going along with them.

One moment she was a minuscule girl with a missing, bleeding stump of an arm, trudging through a bombed out, burning town. She gasped in pain as she trudged forward, but held the hat in her arms tighter with her one arm.

That scene was pulled away by the rift.

She had wrapped some cloth around her arm-stump and looked older. She was limping along, towards some trucks. There were people. They ran towards her in concern. She was dragging a plasma rifle by its strap.

That, too, was pulled away.

She was hugging books to her chest with a newly-restored arm. She was walking towards some sort of library. She was talking animatedly to someone (plural?) out of sight.

That was ripped away.

The singularity finished eating Kayne's past and started working on her future.

Kayne laid on the ground, her body—if you could even call it that anymore (it looked distinctly mechanical)—broken, parts scattered anywhere. The machine gurgled, apparently in laughter. In one of its hands, it clutched a burnt red ribbon—one of Moko's arms—to its "chest." Then she spasmed once, and was still.

The world around Kayne fizzled like TV static.

Kayne was taller, her hair longer. She stood proudly, with Moko on her head. She was walking down some sort of ramp. There was the sound of cheering in front of her. Then, slowly—Kayne raised her slender, elegant, realistic prosthetic arm and waved.

Then, as that scene was being pulled away from Kayne's body, the sound of someone shouting, "S-sideways, goddammit! G-go sideways!"

Whatever was left of Kayne heard him, and the silhouette of Kayne leapt to the side with great effort. Kayne landed on her back, so as to not crush Moko.

Everything seemed to snap back into the two, who laid there gasping.

"You there, Moko?" Kayne asked blearily.

"I'm all here. I think. Stupid girl," Moko answered.

"Out of the frying pan, into the fire," Kayne said, remembering the shots Kyxe and Lamb had fired.

"Shiiiiiiiiit," Moko moaned. "Why is this my life? You got any more juice in you?"

"No," Kayne said succinctly, continuing to lay there uselessly like a sack of potatoes.

Ferem Ose Kalea - Forever and A Day

The place was loud, exceedingly so. A contrast to the dreary exterior, where death reigned and she half expected a troupe of ghosts to start harassing her.

Kalea allowed herself a smile as she sipped her drink, some ale of questionable quality. Years ago the noise and drink would have bothered her, not anymore. Side-effects of living in Malfeas, perhaps. They made so much noise in the Demon City, one had to acclimate. It was probably preferable to the Silent Wind's presence though, or Kimbery's attentions for that matter.

She scanned her surroundings. Where the town was dead, this place radiated life. What with the goat or the newly washed counter. People of all stripes and colours moved about the place. How this was sustainable eluded her, but somehow it was. Or maybe this was only a temporary thing that she was lucky enough to catch.

She was on vacation, so to speak. Her urge beat in her heart still, but Chiaroscuro was far away. Osana seemed annoyed at that, but there was little they could do about it.

She sipped the ale again, then set it aside. Next time she'd bring her own drinks.

Andradite - Streets of Dive

Andy stood by as Kayne ignored her and got to work, the gem clutching her shard to her chest and shuffling from foot to foot. The light from those flames around the vortex felt... off, sickly, even more so than Dive's usual illumination, and there was an uncomfortable ringing in her body that was so faint she might just be imagining it. It was both scary and fascinating, and on any other day the latter would be outweighing the former.

Today was different, though, because Begonia was still back in the club behind them. Any second now she expected to feel that terrible sheering separation again and all she wanted to do was go back to her room above the bar and hide.

But her friends were running away. Kayne was making something complicated-looking, which actually looked like it might be working. After a few more moments of agonizing indecision, Andy had tucked her piece of herself into her messenger back and cinched the strap tighter, turning to and maybe see of she should help -

Then everything exploded. Then everything got weird.

What smeared out from Andradite as the machine backfired was not something the biological members of the party should really be able to... get. The format was wrong. Eyes and ears weren't responsible for this experience, and no neurons were involved in its analysis. But still, the fractured explosion of information was arranged in familiar patterns it really had no business mimicking, and every few seconds enough facets aligned to beam a flash of something comprehensible into the minds of her unfortunate comrades.

Potential strong enough to shatter you into powder with a twitch, affectionately applied to the top of your head with painstakingly gentle precision.

The deep and pervasive weakness-hunger of the night. The satisfying warmth of the morning sunshine passing through your body.

A line of tiny animals trundling over a fallen leaf, every movement of minuscule stick-like legs emphasized by a detached fascination.

It was a two-way street, distributed microbe-based consciousness having trouble interpreting the jumble of sensations being sprayed across the alley behind the cabaret - but not as much trouble as you would think. Something more fundamental than biology resonated between Andy and the others. It was just a shame that it meant she was able to more clearly comprehend the distracting and terrifying imagery being sucked through her mind on its way towards the singularity.

If there was one thing keeping the bits of Andradite that were still in Andradite focused, it was this - she definitely hadn't imagined the ringing. It was much louder now, a warbling multi-tonal vibration echoing up from the very core of her body, deafening to her and maybe even audible to the others as perceptions co-mingled across the alleyway. It was the sound a morphologically complex crystal structure made when it was subjected to uneven gravitational fluctuations.

Andradite didn't know that, though. She just knew that it felt awful. A growing tension, inexorably approaching limits that must never, ever, be crossed. Now, she was right. Now this really, really was the time to run.

So, even as the vortex tried to wring out her crystal lattices like dishrags and the chronological blowback kept half her consciousness fluttering in the metephorical wind, Andy bent down, hooked her arms under Kayne's shoulder, and started to drag her away from the madness.

Edited by LittleMako on Feb 12th 2019 at 1:38:59 AM

Old Maken’s Shop of Mysteries

Counterintuitively enough, as soon as the icy specter of the medicine clamped hold of Makoto’s wrist, her other wrist seized up in protest, prompting the teen to stifle a cry through clenched teeth rather than respond by taking on the form of a mystical crusader of justice. It all worked out for the best, though; as soon as she had the presence of mind to pull the plug, her wound had already sealed up into a perplexing egg-like shape, which promptly hatched into a line of clear, smooth, blemish-free skin. Jackpot. The girl thought with a reluctant, half-raised curl at the corner of her mouth, almost unwilling to believe her good luck. But, after taking a minute to make sure it didn’t hatch again into something much less pleasant, she hastily scooched over to Claudia and made to spread the love—and the formula—all along the worst of the afflicted arm.

“Just the one I was born with.” She responded habitually to the voice behind her, before freezing in place. Twin rising sensations of relief and horror rose in her chest like the frigid heat of an arctic sunrise, both at the thought that her friend had recovered already and the thought that her friend had already recovered. Hunched over as she was, Makoto considered such mundane things as yanking her hat down, pulling her bandanna up, or even bolting for the door—but then, somehow, things got even weirder. Some of the pieces of Maken’s body, which she realized with a start that she’d been somewhat unconsciously ignoring in order to preserve what little remained of her strained nerves, began pulsing and throbbing with an otherworldly, ungodly energy, before finally rising into the sky and erupting into an unholy abomination of leather, leathery hide, and—

Oh shit, it’s Girimehkala. The teen thought with a surreal burst of clarity, before wincing from the reverberations caused by the entirety of his tonnage landing on the shop’s floor. Rising to her feet on shaky legs, she had just gathered her wits enough to either give or demand an explanation—she’d decide which in a moment—when the front door burst open. What now?! Some internal part of her squealed, suddenly incredibly aware of just how poorly this flesh-based gambit had paid off: leaving her with one healed waitress, yes, but also three people about to crack open her secret identity about as much as she wanted to crack her magical phone over her own head.

“O-oh, the robot girl.” She said, making to lean against Maken’s desk in a show of teenage nonchalance. “Y-yeah, I actually saw her not too long ago, just before I came in here. She was speeding off pretty quick—probably going for help.” She said, with a quick, affirmative nod like she was trying to show how much she believed her own words. Makoto cast a hand in Kaguya’s direction, before gesturing down at Claudia’s prone form. “She must’ve fixed you up just before she left, and then when I got here, I saw this woman lying over here on the ground. She said her name was Claudia, I think, and since I work here during the sssssss…” Shit, does this place even have a summer? “…season,” she finished with a throw-away motion, “I knew right where the medkit was. But I had to test it on myself, you see? Just to make sure it didn’t expire. Or anything.”

Feeling like all of that had somehow come out in one, long, sustained breath, Makoto sucked in a deep, quiet burst of air before crouching back down to the ailing waitress. “Here, if we’re heading back to the Forever and a Day anyway, let’s take her wiiiith—” Trying not to let her eyes bug too far out of her head at the unexpected exertion of lifting the waitress through the familiar anchor of the woman’s arm around her own shoulder, she instead carefully un-straightened her legs before letting the Mama Jupiter employee sag back to the ground. “Say, Mister, uh, elephant man, would you mind—could you grab her for me?” She said, glancing meaningfully at any of his six, burly arms. And please don’t eat her. She really, really wanted to say, before then turning to Kaguya, unable to hide a quick, craning glance at Kaguya’s casts as she rose up on her toes and looked down. “Looks like you guys have been through the wringer—shame, he was a pretty good boss. Did he say anything, uh, weird? Before he died?” She couldn’t hold off another look in Giri’s direction. “The first time, I mean.”

Hmmm, it sure would be peculiar if this girl was trying to keep some kind of secret from Kaguya. Very peculiar indeed! You could only attribute so much of this girl's fright to the only slightly unusual appearance of a dead woman rising again, so what could possibly be the cause of all of this, you know? Hmmm...

Kaguya only gave Rufus' sudden, screaming reappearance a little heed. "I'm afraid that he has been assassinated. I can give you condolence, but only once we are in a better place, where I'll give you these events as well." She gave a serene nod towards this mysterious and very normal girl at her side, she added "She is a brave one, but I'd hate to abhor this good samaritan of a stranger with the grisly details, you know."

Even if she wasn't physically winking at Makoto, her spirit was doing it so hard that it might just manifest into the air around them.

Whoever she was, she had some questions for the moon lady. With Giri being...in a peculiar state, and not much one to talk, she was put into the position of storyteller. "It was all really strange, honestly. I first encountered a scroll that he seemed to have knowledge of, stating that he wasn't who I thought he was." Rewriting history on the fly, she said "I confronted him on that manner, and he was quick to break...apparently, he works - worked - for the Red Ring after all, within it for the purposes of destroying it. He has joined his wife and child now, hopefully. All of this was mere moments before his death."

"And yet..."

The princess looked out the hole left by any number of giant people passing through the wall, obviously bothered by something. "I remember, there was something that he mentioned that stood out a moment ago, but it's trying to get out of my grasp."

When she realized it, she stood up immediately and looked alert. "We were being scryed by both of them, he said. With the abomination dead..."

Girimehkala, Old Maken's Big Fucking Mess

Girimehkala had a lot of nose to follow. As the details of the room wafted over towards him in a slurry of Rufus-musk and man-flesh and leaking elixirs, a few familiar notes crept up out of the noise, girl-sweat and metal-tang and a terrible furtive puberty. Dots connected idly, until spite took hold and rung out the full web. Then he grinned like a shit-eater and muscled his way over to Claudia, picking her up by the armpit.

"Kags has got it," he said, hoisting the whore-shaped sack of whoremeat up over his shoulder, and looked back at Maken's assistant with his face stained half-crimson by her still-dripping blouse. "You see your little automa-whatchacallit friend, you get to tell her I gods-damned told her so. Your boss up there on the ceiling dug himself in too deep and started foolin' around with Artifacts Incorporated dig himself back out. Won himself a visit from Stutter-step Jack, whoever that was. That's him out back explodin', by the way, Rufus. You're welcome."

He kicked the door off its hinges and took a brief reconnaissance, poncho whipping in the wind, and turned about face bathed in backlit purple light.

"Now, I ain't too good with the math, girlie, and I don't know how his wife and kids feel, but you reckon that makes him twice the liar, or half? Does being that yellow act like the little crossy thing or like the little line with the two dots? Don't matter now, I 'spose. Ain't much left to judge. I'd say you could still find work at Mama Jupiter's, but I think it looks like things went too smooth down there neither. Maybe your friend better start listening to what I say, huh?"

Kaguya's realisation penetrated his triumph like a bullet, and the smile away behind his trunk fell away like a collapsing bridge. One of Maken's arms fell from the rafters and elbowed him on the forehead.

"Piss. We should go get Addward."

Edited by OG-Sama on Feb 20th 2019 at 1:49:47 AM

Outside And Inside Mama Jupiter's Colossal Cabaret

Unfortunately, the rift did not seem to be very afraid of physical harm. Kyxe's plasma grenade blew the lodged door into smithereens, and the incredible suction began anew; Lamb's arrows simply disappeared, fading rapidly into tiny points of light. It seemed that even the weapon of a psychopomp had little effect on a chronal portal.

Another two gang members vanished down its maw, followed by a very surprised barstool. Within the cabaret, Begonia opened his eyes, groaned, then jumped to his feet, hands in his hair.

"Oh, no!" he wailed. "That's... that's a Class Twenty-Four Transdimensional Tear! I'm not even qualified to deal with those! How on Earth did that happen?"

"I don't know," said the second bouncer, already helping a groggy Mama Jupiter to her feet, "but we have to barricade the door. Alfred, where'd the piano go?"

"Gone, Wilfred," said Alfred, already heading over with a cabinet in hand. "Starfish are always bad news."

"That they are, Alfred. And what's Earth?"

"Wait, wait!" cried Begonia. "Stop feeding it!"

Wilfred sat Mama Jupiter down, tossed aside the ten or so scrambling thugs in his path, and picked up Begonia by the scruff of his neck.

"Perhaps we could throw you in," he observed. "What do you think about that?"

"No, don't do that! You can grind me into schnitzel or press me into beer, anything but that! Everything that goes down that could go... well..."

"Could go where, kid?"

It was Mama Jupiter, already lighting her broken cigar. Her hands were pale and her chins were limp, but her eyes were as steely as ever.

"Anywhere! An uncharted Room, an unmarked Corridor, an infinite portal loop... it's too dangerous! You could be floating in time forever!"

"Well, then Blink out," said Alfred. "Save yourself."

"I can't! The attraction's too great, I'd go right down it! Just... just let me talk to that hat girl!"

Wilfred looked at the boy in his hand, then looked at Alfred. Alfred looked at Mama Jupiter, who raised an unbothered eyebrow.

"If we're going to die," she said, "we might as well let him die first."

"Yes, Mama," said Wilfred.

"Oh, good," simpered Begonia, clapping his hands together. "Put me down now?"

"No," said Wilfred, before walking right over to the billowing doorway. With massive strength, he clamped a burly hand on the frame, holding Begonia out into the wailing storm like a very scared wind sock.

"H-H-H-H-Hat Girl!" screamed Begonia. "My cloak! Give me back my cloak!"

"Easier said than done," said Wilfred, grunting in effort. His fingers were white as snow. "How's she going to get between us and that?"

"A-A-A-Andradite! Bring Hat Girl back! I'm sorry for trying to steal you! I was only following orders! I don't even like jewelry that much!"

Meanwhile, Mama Jupiter puffed at her cigar. A copper curler detached itself from her head and flew out the door, wreathed in smoke.

"I don't suppose you could head out the front door?" she asked Kyxe. "That's probably what that little brat was trying to do, anyway. Blow out the wall if you want. This place is done for, but it's worth trying to save yourself."

The vacuum was growing greater and greater in the Cabaret, and the entire mob was in Kyxe's way, scrambling for the front door itself, so this might prove harder than it sounded.

"If you can save yourself," said Mama Jupiter. "I'm not sure this town can survive a second Sinkhole. Isn't that right, Alfred?"

"Of course, Mama."

Old Maken's Shop of Mysteries

"...Either Artifacts Inc. is going to send someone here to clean things up," said Rufus, filling in Kaguya's sentence with chagrin, "or they already have. Don't know who that might be. They double-crossed him. Oh, Maken, Old Maken. Just ten more stickers and you'd have had half a free martini."

The minotaur gave a snort of real sorrow and saluted Old Maken's better half, before fishing busily in his coat-pocket.

"I was going to give y'all this as a reward, but I figured it's now or never. Here."

He removed a large floral towel from his pocket, blew his nose loudly, wiped off his nose-ring, then threw the towel to Kaguya.

"Not this one. Here."

The second thing that landed in her hands was a strange silver spyglass - it looked almost ordinary, save for the strange glyphs written all over its sides, and the pale blue fire that sparked in its lens. Just like the fire in Rufus's false eye.

"Look through that when you get lost," said Rufus. "But not too much, or you might go nuts. I'd love to explain what it is, but we don't have time - we need to get back to the Forever And A Day!"

He spun on his boot at great speed, then hopped back into view.

"Assistant girl! Get me the rest of those pink towels before they vanish into the Space Between!"

And with that, he charged for his tavern, quantum blunderbuss wobbling precariously on his shoulder.

The Forever And A Day

Kalea's musings, unfortunately, were interrupted by two things: the arrival of a large, six-armed elephant man with a woozy woman on his shoulder, and a loud and very angry squeak from atop the counter.

"GIRIMEHKALA!" screeched Addward, in a voice that was both far smaller and far louder than any capitals could imply. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE FABRIC OF SPACE-TIME? MY CLOUD TRANSACTIONS ARE RUUUUUUINED!"

"It's the Red Ring!" cried Rum-Eyed Rufus, barging in from behind the rahshaka with aplomb, before making way for Kaguya and Makoto. "And Artifacts Inc.! Probably!"

The Automagic Teller Marten froze, his tiny teeth bared in an expression of exquisite pain. He turned in a contemplative circle.

"That does make sense," he concluded, sounding horribly and terrifyingly resigned. "So, how many minutes before we all die?"

"We're not going to die!" cried Rufus, well-aware of the sudden hush that had fallen over the entire tavern. "We're going to live! Or well, we're going to do our best!"

The Victorian gynoid visibly calculated the replacement cost of her bottle of rubbing alcohol, then gnawed it down whole. Viscera burped.

"OH, COME ON, YOU LILYFOOTED CHICKEN TENDERS!" screamed Addward. "HAVE SOME HEART!"

"Everyone who values their valuables, lock them down!" boomed Rufus, in a resounding voice that could be nothing but his captain's roar. "Help the wounded and wound the drunk! There's going to be a rough ride ahead!"

He vaulted the counter in a terrific display of bovine athleticism, sent an entire cabinet of glasses crashing to the floor, and jammed his forehead into a large red button.

The Forever and a Day began, very violently, to rise.

Edited by troydenite on Feb 21st 2019 at 10:20:49 PM

Mama Jupiter's Colossal Cabaret

“I... I can most certainly try,” Kyxe replied in an uncertain tone, glancing towards the mob and the ever-worsening singularity outside, before nodding at Begonia. “Do me a favour and muzzle him. He's obnoxious.”

A pause.

“You are most certainly a male, right? I find it difficult to tell.”

Nonetheless, she shook it off (as escaping from a gradually increasing vacuum was a bit more of an important matter) and began to lightly jog towards the crowd as they rushed for the door; the far wall in her focus. As she neared, she picked up speed—up into a full sprint and then one assisted by bursts of plasma from the soles of her feet—before projecting one especially large burst from beneath her in order to sail over the crowd; tucking up in order not to splat against the ceiling.

She was at an angle that would make her crash into the wall rather than land in front of it, but she compromised. Her abdomen was throbbing with pain at this point, but she didn't care. She had her priorities. And right now one of those priorities was boring a hole through a cabaret wall.

To escape a black hole.

Not that she would do that under more normal circumstances. Not at all.

The wall melted away as she thrust a handful of intense plasma into it, but the spike of pain rendered her incapable of righting herself afterward. She tumbled onto the ground outside in a heap, coughing and groaning to herself as she instinctively curled up into a ball.

It was only after she hacked up a burst of steam from her mouth did she sigh and flop backwards.

“Seltār.”

Kayne & Moko

Kayne willed her recalcitrant body to get up, get up as she saw the Rift open back up through fuzzy vision (oh god why) and someone call her "Hat Girl." But the way back to the back door was blocked by the Rift...and then she saw a familiar flickering neon light in the distance.

"Thanks, Andy. I'll take it from here. Moko, once more into the breach we go!" She took off, stumbling, into a back alley—the same one she thought might've led to a street doc's practice. The same neon light was over both of its entrances.

She shouldered through the people trying to get out and eventually made it back to the inside, gasping as her head swam. The Rift sucked her forward, but she dug her mechanical hand into the walls, steadying herself.

"Flower Boy, I have your cloak right here...sorry I kept you waiting..." she braced against the wall next to him. "If education was legal where I came from, I'd have a PhD in String Theory and several more besides. Tell me what to do, I can keep up!"

Moko was gripping Kayne's hair, completely terrified.

Kalea - The Forever And A Day

Was the building moving? That seemed to be the case, but Kalea had little idea how. Why seemed to be somehow connected to the beastman who just entered and got shouted at by a talking weasel. She was missing some context for the argument, and some of the terms made little sense, but it appeared the little thing's economic assets had been hurt.

Kalea gave the beastman another look. For some reason he - she figured it to be male - had a person slung over his shoulder. Other noteworthy elements included six arms, and a collection of firewands and flame pieces. So far she had counted four, but there looked to be more. Whatever animal the man took after was unknown to her.

Behind the beastman two others had emerged. The older woman might have been Lookshyan, at least in garb, though far more ostentatiously dressed than the stereotype would suggest. The other was entirely foreign to her, and quite young.

It ill-suited her to sit still in such times, but she had no idea how to help in this situation. A moment of consideration later, she got up and went over to the beastman with the firewands.

"Girimehkala, was it? I beg your forgiveness for my forwardness, but whatever might have occurred to spur this sudden chaos?"

Edited by joergenjetsam on Feb 22nd 2019 at 4:17:43 AM

Moon Lady nodded in agreement, as if she fully understood the political factions of this place well enough to figure out how bad that was. Right now she just assumed "real bad", which hopefully isn't far from the mark.

She then received two gifts. One is a snot-encrusted towel, but since that wasn't very bad compared to some of the stuff she's got on her right now so she just took it. The other was something that she decided was best left not looked at or through. As they took off, she made sure to make her thanks known.

"Thank you, I accept these graciously," she shouted at the bull mid-stride. She held them up, the spyglass bouncing on the towel balanced on a sword, just to make sure he saw that she was properly taking them. "If you ever find yourself at The Eternal House, Eientei, I'll make sure to return the favor!"

The screeches of ferrets weren't going to make anything better. The speed at which he resigned himself to death only surprised Kaguya in that usually it wasn't cute weasel-things doing that kind of doomsaying. The best thing to say to him was "You could be a little less worrisome, you know! Think about the..."

Oh, right, it seemed that everyone else didn't care.

In fact, if Addward was ruined by this, and she lost her chance at getting regional funds...shouldn't she be the most inconvenienced?

This was a line of thought interrupted as the entire building lurched. Kaguya carefully poked her head out the front door.