Breathe In Hopelessness, Breathe Out Justice
Heather boils over.
Carter the jock, Carter the bully, Carter the willing supplicant to cruelty and Carter the dealer of cruelty in turn. He stands here fresh in the blood of transgression, delighted in rending irony from modesty, conducting violence against a woman.
Heather's magic was formed in this fire; in the space where grace was cleaved by hate, innocence and innocents torn to shreds. Somewhere in the space between real and false, the Dead Red points a camera on the world.
"Luane's fat lip is drying..."
One step, two, in the red alarm-light her dress and claws are already bloodied.
"The bastard's bacon, frying..."
There is no scream as she pounces, merely the screech of guitar and fiddle.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.Jayden
"I noticed," Jayden muttered as the last of the inky blackness finally peeled off.
He was quiet as they walked, the only outward sign of emotion being a slight wince at the man in garish armor (what was it with Sandfield colors and being absolutely eye-searing?) Inwardly, though, he was frazzled, trying to put together a puzzle where he didn't have all the pieces.
Why was the Umbral Horde being nice to him? They didn't seem to like the militia much either, even though his mother worked for them (and Jayden refused to believe his mom was even half as evil as...well, everyone else they'd fought, really). Was it because of what Reiji had said, ages ago? His family history? Why couldn't they just get someone else? How valuable—and, maybe more importantly, how rare—could someone like him, who'd barely had a scrap of magic to his name before pacting with a demon, be?
At some point during the walk, Jayden had—consciously or unconsciously—wrapped himself in shadowed invisibility again. Between that and how quietly he moved, it was like he'd vanished into thin air.
At least, until they reached the foot of the wall and Jayden suddenly asked, "What other districts does this tunnel lead to?"
"Look inside yourself and to the stars; there, you will find your answers."Pablo almost thanked Heather for charging forward. Gave him an excuse to jump in, but now, he had to run towards the screams. Seeing the girl tied down made his blood freeze, but he had to move quickly. "Turtle Shield"
"And you are? The idiot who thinks getting into a gang makes you cool? Better just shove that trident where the light doesn't shine and do the whole world a favor" He growled, trying to not get blasted apart. He aimed his hand to the chains, he had to be careful, the girl couldn't take much more.
"Sword of Light: Blink" He said, as his sword seemed to appear for a second, aimed to the other side before disappearing.
Edited by Blueace on Jul 20th 2024 at 4:23:42 AM
Wake me up at your own risk.Colt - On the Road
As Luke drew close, Colt wordlessly gripped his companion's wrist. He shot a look at the fencer from underneath his glasses and spoke low.
"Don't be stupid. Fighting's for when you don't got another choice. 'Sides, look at 'im. Big guy like that, luggin' around a metal bar? He'll rock both our shit in one swing. And anyway, he'll only think what we let 'im see. You oughta learn how to act tough."
A pause.
And then the delinquent decided he didn't want to speak anymore and let go of Luke's wrist. Onward, onward, he kept on walking. Even if the stupid look on that asshole's face kept bringing up old memories. His sense of duty, of purpose was stronger than his hate. Jesus, his hate? How long had it been since he'd hated anyone?
WITH A HAIL OF HARPOONS! WITH EVERY LAST DROP OF MY BEING!Luke paused, double-taked, and realized something upon giving Carl another look. He still bit his lip as he remembered what Carl said, and sighed, "You're, of course, right about that." Another glance back at the man guarding those refugees, and Luke for his part examined those ragged people with a suspicious, some would say uncharitable eye.
But he didn't say anything for now, keeping quiet and trying to look tougher in line with what Colt said.
As the two groups approached the settlement district, a pair of armored 317th boys flew down from one of the guard towers near the shut gate. Crossing his arms, the elder of the two gestured at the influencer, the street tough, and the refugees. "Identify yourselves."
Each of the refugees pulled out state ID's and driver's licenses, some in better condition than others.
Luke for his part stated, "Luke Locke, fencing influencer and magic using prodigy." Instead of a straightforward ID, he pulled out his phone to show a screenshot of his Instagram. The 317th boys just nodded and subtly rolled their eyes under their helmets.
Then Carl stepped forward and showed his state ID - and the 317th guard commented, "Carl R. Kesper. You were a convict, right? In jail up until—-"
"The penitentiary shut down," Carl said with a shrug, "And the guards beat feet. Then the militia showed up and made their offer. Either die, or serve. I chose neither. And here I am."
"Welcome to the Two Schools Settlement District, then..." The guard commented, "Be on your best behavior. Feel free to enter."
And with that, the two of them flew off again. And the gate slowly swung open, showing the eclectic and surprisingly bright scenery of the Settlement District. The hanging lights illuminated the streets, ramshackle homes and marketplace locales decorated long streets.
Life went on, as best as possible.
Elwood clarified as if he was completely unbothered by Jayden's disappearing act, "It connects Calabasa and its neighboring districts, continuing down south and as far as Erakeen District." A rather significant name, though Elwood didn't know that.
"I will admit," Elwood shrugged, "I don't rightly know why the Grandmaster adores you so, but so long as it is his decree, I will respect the fondness he so obviously demonstrates."
The blood-crusted, wretched chains were slashed to pieces by Pablo's sword of light, but even so, the result didn't seem to register to Carter. And the girl just limply fell to the floor, moaning and groaning incoherently as she lie there, twitching.
As for Carter?
Well, he was in the midst of the fight with Heather.
Sparks of mana flew in the air as Carter's trident locked and clashed against Heather's claws made by Dead Red. The Umbral apprentice spinning, stabbing and slashing with his trident at Heather mercilessly. It was clear there were utterly no reservations nor any hint at softness remaining.
The doors to the torture chamber leading into the main building swung on their hinges as the clash intensified.
Meanwhile, the other teens, banking on the diversion, had found - through Mina's spellcraft - the means to locate Cici. As they surfaced, they would find a place that made even the chamber Carter made use of seem homely. The cellar they found themselves in was likely Scythirax's own private locale - which manifested both in the abject cruelty evident in even the decorum and accessories and in his keepsakes from his ancient home.
Three distinct people were bound in this reeking, heinous place that stank of long spilled blood and viscera. All had been similarly bound - their arms and legs cuffed by black chains and pulled up and down, respectively.
One was a young man, dressed in a tattered long sleeved shirt, and filthy jeans - his feet changed there, toes scarred from where the nails had been ripped out. In Scythirax's cruelest mercy, it was clear by the sheer mass of scar tissue that the young man had on top of his head that the Scythian Warlord had practiced his ancient depravity - and then ensured the young man lived through it. The young man looked at the Investigation Team and coughed - then spoke in a hoarse tone, "Is—-is this another cruel torment from him? I've said it—-said it so many times already, as he desired."
Next to him was Cici, and it was clear that she had seen some of the worst of it. Her arms and legs were tightly bound with blood-soaked bandages and wrapping, her eyes beaten until they were perpetually bloodshot, and two points on her cheeks seemed to have been pierced. Going by her wheezing and the blood coming from her mouth, she was both still alive and likely suffering from extensive internal trauma.
The last unfortunate specimen however was dead - and it seemed he was rather recently perished - having suffered much like the young man and Cici, but evidently, Scythirax overestimated just how much he could take. Resulting in attempts to patch him back up that failed utterly.
As Veda, Ross, Rebecca and anyone else got their relevant upgrades to Katie and correspondingly the "gift" from Jackson, they would head out to the local Hazard Gate spot. The gift from Jackson for his father out in DC was a box, unmarked and without any outward info. It was bound shut, and no amount of jostling would make any noise from anything inside of it. Whatever it was, all that could be ascertained was that Jackson wanted to make sure it got to his dad.
But for now, the biggest priority might be getting ready.
Because they would be able to take on Dhakar as soon, it seemed, as the attempt was made to open that Gate. It was just a matter of having everything ready to take him on.
Mina Parker
Initial medical scans did not return any promising results, Mina thought, as she answered "No, Sir, this is not a trick. We're here to get you out of here," to the male's questioning of the rescue group. After that, she freed him first, packing dust and dirt into the locks of the shackles to snap them open as she moved to support the man into the underground evacuation shuttle.
As for Cici, she packed a cooling mud poultice over her bandages, in hopes that it could ease the pain somewhat. What mattered here was keeping her stable until the medics of the 317th could properly tend to her. The internal injuries were no laughing matter. So as she left the final deceased individual up to the others to retrieve to the hollow drill, she continued monitoring Cici's condition and tried a first foray into healing magic, envisioning bruising receding, blood vessels mending, and the approach of death stayed.
All this she fueled with the promise she had made to bring Cici home safely. And the ethics of a medic were not too different from those of a radio host, in that they bound the oath-swearer equally as tightly. She could not fail now, Mina thought, not when multiple lives and a couple's love was at stake. It reminded her of Xander and herself…and made her all the more determined to facilitate Cici's survival.
Edited by JumpingFruit on Jul 24th 2024 at 9:11:19 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.James really wished he could do something right now. Hurting people was something his magic could do just fine, but helping the wounded was far from his area of expertise. If it had just been him alone, Cici would have died before even seeing the outside. Such incredible suffering, and he could do nothing to ease even an iota of it. He felt the hatred rising in his chest, burning like the sun. Every time he had used that word before seemed so hyperbolic now. That realization puzzled him, he'd had ample motivation to be angry previously; when Tom disappeared, when he found out that he was going to be turned into some sort of demonic avatar, when Duane deserted them for who fucking knew what reason, when Dubai was leveled, when Gibbs used that as an opportunity to institute martial law in his hometown; but those events hadn't inspired the same sentiments that he was feeling now. The other unexpected thing was that the hatred wasn't directed at anybody in particular. He hated that Scythirax and his warband could inflict such pointless cruelty, how all this pain probably didn't even have a reason behind it, but he also despised himself and his uselessness, and Gibbs for creating this mess, and Chase for sitting on his ass this whole time, and his teammates for running off. Perhaps there was even a little animosity for the 317th, who had done nothing to address these kidnappings, even though tracking down Scythirax's base had been a trivial endeavor.
He affected his usual stoic demeanor, the only sign of his anger the flames flickering faintly across his skin. An obvious lack of confidence would only worsen the despair already felt by the captives. They were in the belly of the beast right now, there was no time for hesitation. "We're with the 317th" he muttered. He then turned to Mina "We should radio them as soon as we're out, get them to bring medical aid."
Mina Parker
"Roger that," Mina said as she draped her jacket around the corpse that was left, the cloth expanding outwards into a shroud, and loading the body into its slot in the drill. Then, clambering back into the earthen evacuation shuttle, she’d slide it back out the way it came in, and did as James had bid. She held Cici's hand when she could, continuing to monitor her condition. While it certainly hadn't gotten that much better, at least it had stopped getting any worse for now. "Come in, we are cleared for evac, with three prisoners, two alive, one dead, and one more in the process of retrieval," was what she said on the radio. This was of course after she put some distance between herself and the warehouse, so the helicopter could land somewhere safe. "Medical aid requested. Mina out."
Edited by JumpingFruit on Aug 4th 2024 at 1:41:41 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.Jayden
Erakeen?
Jayden's eyes widened, although of course the invisibility meant Elwood couldn't see that. That was the district mentioned on that paper, the one with the spell circle. Had whoever ransacked his house gone there afterwards? What had they found?
More importantly, could he take that stuff back?
"...good to know," Jayden eventually said. He looked out at the exit. "I...suppose this is goodbye, then."
"Look inside yourself and to the stars; there, you will find your answers."Pablo saw that the attention of Carter being taken by Heather, so he raised the shield and bolted forward, trying to reach the girl.
"Gazelle Dash" He said, reaching out as fast as he could. If Heather could cover him for a second, he might be able to get someone to safety.
And then...
Time to improvise He had some wild move, but whatever it was, it will require him being within reach.
Wake me up at your own risk.Veda - Hazard Gate
There was no way of knowing whether this plan would work. Whether the possession could be reversed, manipulated, or even stopped. But given the circumstances, Veda couldn't provide a better alternative. While he disliked unknowns, Veda was someone who always looked forward. Who always had hope.
His magic took time, so in the short period of tinkering he could provide at best minor upgrades to Katie. Small enchantments woven in to make every aspect of her just that tiny bit better. And to incorporate those enhancements devised by the Forge members.
One thing Veda's magic was quite good at was synthesis; combining disparate elements into a harmonious whole. Where the Forge tech appeared crude and molten, Veda's creations were sleek, clean, and honed.
"When you're ready, I can activate the runic array." Veda announced, looking at his teammates. He had of course memorized the array the moment he'd seen it on the video. "Last chance to bow out."
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?Ross - Hazard Gate.
Ross was busy familiarizing himself with the new upgrades. As Veda suggested, there were concealed weapons hidden in the front, and in the back of the car. And, since it is the Forge we're talking about, these concealed weapons are flamethrowers. Very magitechy. Those enchantments felt so weird in his proprioception. He tried morphing between different nozzle types, as shown by that one overenthusiastic Forgesmith, and aiming the nozzles to a limited extent.
There was one more thing to keep in mind. See... There were many things this driver was prepared for on the road. There were some that he wasn't prepared for. He wasn't prepared for battling a ghost. For contending against an assimilator. But there was one mundane thing this Californian driver never contended with. Ice. And Becca would likely provide a lot of it. He experimented with his tyres. He could morph them between road tyres and off-road ones pretty much at will, so it was just a matter of figuring out the right type. He did see roughly know what a winter tyre look like... Softer tyre compound to remain flexible at low temps. Wider, deeper grooves. Those little sipes to deal with the extra snow. Yeah, that looked about right. He familiarized himself with the image of those. Tried transforming back and forth.
"As ready as I'll ever be. No bowing out today. Not on my end. People of this town deserve nothing less." He took a deep breath. He could do it. He could show that creature the power he had under his right foot.
Here in my car, I feel safest of all. I can lock all my doors, it's the only way to live in cars.Rebecca Weathers - Hazard Gate
As Ross and Veda tuned up Katie, Becca got to work getting herself ready for the coming encounter with Dhakar.
Having established where exactly they'd be opening the gate, Becca used her magic to drop the temperature of the air around the spot. That way, she'd be able to generate ice quicker, which she'd need to be able to do reliably if they were going to take on a demon. Once that was ready, she summoned her tome and flipped it open to the page on casting the spell to open the Hazard Gate.
"Trust me, I don't back away from a challenge," Becca told Veda, her voice cool and confident. "Now, what do you say we open the gate up and show this thing what an ice cube does to the police?"
Exult, Exult in the Blood. The Lady in Wight and the Dead Red Collaborate On Your Behalf
Each attempted blow is met with the claws, each slash and stab stymied... Yet Heather's own attacks in turn can't seem to find purchase. The two are locked in repeated clashes, hardened metal upon hardened will. Violins score violence in the noise.
"Ever since he got him laid off. His sanity just made off. No he was never nice but now he's cruel..."
A gambit, then. Heather goes for another clash, pushes hard against a thrust, tilts the blow just slightly to the side so it won't run her through— her claws flicker out of existence, whatever force Carter is putting on the trident continues... With all hope, bringing his stupid little corpus right into the place the claws are set to remanifest...
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.Scythirax's House of Horrors
A low gasp and the sound of the trident hitting the floor.
Carter grunted and fell to the floor, ten bleeding wounds lining his arms, shoulders and side - the claws having punctured through his acolyte armor and struck true into his vulnerable flesh. Having no idea he would need to commit to body reinforcement, Carter was distinctly caught off guard and left to take the brunt of the injury.
He fell backward, glaring up at Heather, trying to stop himself from making any more pained noises. The former jock started trying to put together some kind of spell. Some kind of desperate, last ditch resistance. But looking up at his former peers, he was left realizing he was for now completely outclassed...
And yet.
Before Heather could advance and put an end to the miserable life of Carter Bristolm, she would feel at first a puncturing, horrible pain - and then spreading, total numbness. Spreading up from her spine and down to her legs. The feeling of numbness superceding any pain - the difficulty to keep her arms up at all...
Behind her, it seemed a long, thick dagger emerged from the air itself. Drip - drop - drip - drop - the blood issued a sort of morbid rhythm as it fell. The empty air behind her billowed and curved like folds of fabric in the air - because there was in fact fabric there.
Slowly, invisibility became opacity. The towering, tall figure standing behind her - how long had he been there? - slowly revealed. The black and grey cloak pulling aside. Revealing the old, expertly carved magitek armor. Black and with purple highlights, a thin red visor concealing any hint of eyes. The right arm held the offending dagger - the left arm's armor seemed bulkier, the gauntlet larger, ending in multi-part, thick claws that crackled threateningly with power.
His armor completely concealed any hint of emotional response, or indeed, any humanizing factor. With those slight, thin horns on the helmet pointing to the back, one might almost assume he had a bit of Demon in him.
Scythirax stood much, much taller and more imposing than Carter. And his cloak billowed long, overshadowing both Heather and Pablo.
The warlord spoke, raising his large claw to lightly poke the armor at his collar, "I am afraid I cannot quite have you further mangling or killing my poor, yet incompetent apprentice. He still has potential yet to plumb. And just as well, I must admit I am quite baffled by what induced this incursion. I am aware as to the underground expedition as well as your assault - and both I find inexplicable. If you desired the release of such expired amusement as these subjects, you could well have entered the front of my base. We do have a front door, you know."
Scythirax then looked down at Heather - then across at Pablo, "...And yet. Here you are. I'm not even angry, you know. Just a little confused." He seemed to not even make any further effort. As if Pablo rescuing that girl liberated from the shackles wasn't even a factor to him right now.
It didn't take long for the 317th to get back - and unlike how they behaved during the trip out there, the pilot boys were all business when they were bringing the victims on board. Keith looked like he was trying to maintain a stoic demeanor when he saw what became of Cici and the others.
Now there was just the matter of going back for Pablo and Heather...
Settlement Area
As Luke, Colt, the Refugees and Carl all headed into the Settlement Area, the strumming of some cords faded away into the distance - and they would start to hear the sound of what seemed like some kind of disagreement. One of the older refugees turned her head to listen;
"We—-we have this chance—-this wonderful opportunity. What if Heaven was so close, as to be within—-"
"Leda—-Leda please, we did all this—-broke so many rules—-"
The older refugee sighed, "Oh Charles, oh Lisa...what trouble have you two gotten into with my granddaughter?" The older woman separated from the group, seeing as they were safe now - and hurried off toward the sound of the disagreement.
Carl watched her hurrying off...and promptly ran to follow once he realized something, muttering under his breath, "Shit shit shit shit shit shit...you stupid, stupid fucks. You don't know what you did..."
Luke looked at Colt and sighed, whispering, "That sounds like a garbage fire and a half."
Vs. Dhakar - Beginning
Veda, Rebecca, Katie and Ross would all stand there as the Runic Array was initialized - and the Hazard Gate began to form.
Numerous concentric inlaid designs on the floor produced the start of a Warp in the World. Starting to twist and undulate, the bright red image upon air began to formulate...and then distort almost immediately. The Gate as it was meant to be suddenly crackled with black and yellow energy, collapsing in on itself and beginning to look for all intents and purposes like an unrealistic, artist's depiction of what they might imagine a black hole to look like.
A swirling, unruly vortex challenging the boundaries of the runic array on the ground.
The vortex was then in turn pressed wider by two enormous, uneven claws. A 30 or so feet tall form began to force its way out of the vortex, the mishmash of the Mechs of the Militia and numerous smashed together police cars even more chaotic than the last form it took. Two large turrets turned into shoulder pauldrons. The headlights of a police car glared red, giving the look of eyes. Sculpted together pieces of metal connected to the head gave the impression of horns.
A huge axe rested across the Demon's back, created from the shattered remains of armored cars, helicopters, and various other vehicles.
Dhakar - being Dhakar - promptly bellowed as he exited the vortex, hoisting his axe and pointing it forward as his sharp metallic teeth gnashed, "THE FFFFFFFOOOOOOOOOOOOLISHNESS OF MORTALS TRULY KNOWS NO END. THERE BE NO HAZARD GATES WITHIN SANDFIELD, ONLY HAZARDS - SUCH AS THE GREAT AXE OF THE SCOURGE OF THE CRUSADES!!! YOU FACE YOUR END IN DHAKAR!! THE EVERLIVING!!!"
He certainly knew how to shout. You might be able to hear him all the way back in the Forge!
"Fare thee well, Jayden," Elwood waved with a little smile on his face - with all four arms. "Lord Caine I believe has some excuse in mind for your absence." And with that, Elwood slithered off into the darkness, his smile fading with him into the shadows of the underground.
Edited by NickTheSwing on Aug 5th 2024 at 6:43:54 AM
James was relieved to see the helicopter take in the hostages. After having suffered so much, it would have been a cruel fate indeed for Cici to die before help had come. Also strangely reassuring was the solemnity with which their reinforcements had carried themselves. They had seemed so inured to violence before but their behavior now showed that compassion hadn't been entirely ground away by war. In some sense the most difficult part of their mission had just ended, but there was possibly much more work ahead. It all depended on how Heather and Pablo were doing in their incursion, and more specifically on how much attention they had managed to attract. "We should go back up the others"
Tracing the path Heather had carved through the base wasn't exactly difficult. Sections of wall has been cleanly severed, obvious signs of his teammates passage. He arrived just in time to hear Scythirax giving his little speech. The warlord spoke in a tone that was nonchalant, familiar even. There was no trace of affectation that he could detect, Scythirax genuinely seemed to regard his own behavior as unremarkable. To that man, this campaign of abduction and torture did not merit any more objection than an innocent hobby like stamp collecting. That realization almost pushed James over the edge, he had not expected remorse, but he had expected acknowledgement; mockery, boasting, anything that might recognize that what was happening here might be seen as abhorrent by others. But even that minor solace eluded him. He truly wanted to hurt the man standing before him suffer, an urge that was quite foreign to him. It didn't even particularly bother him that Scythirax could probably kill him with ease, the only thing keeping James under control was the knowledge that his actions might further endanger Heather and his other teammates. "If you bear no grudge and have no desire to keep the captives, then we can leave. We aren't here to mount an assault."
Mina Parker
Mina helped to heave the singular body bag onto the medivac and left the moving of the two injured individuals up to the trained medics. She had tried to keep journey to the extraction point as smooth as possible, losing out on speed in the process, but it was worth it if it didn't end up aggravating the wounds of the victims. Now she had to go back to extract the team members that were still stuck back at the warehouse, where the situation had escalated quite seriously, if what she saw and heard from her bird drones was any indication. "Give us mana potions," she said to the medics, seeing as most of the first-aid kits of the 317th had them on hand, before receiving them, quaffing one down, and handing one over for James to have. "Take this, it'll come in handy."
The way back to the warehouse was faster since Mina did not have to care for any injured, and yet it still seemed to take an eternity. When she skidded back up to the front door with James in tow, watching the situation play out in grainy footage on her PDA, she also burst into the place, stumbling through the door in her haste. The bird drone which had been keeping an eye on the situation flew over to roost on her arm, even as she ran over to support Heather. Her instincts screamed at her to stall, do anything, so that was exactly what the eldest daughter of Veronica Parker did. "We came here on a rescue mission, heard screaming coming from within, and assumed the worst," she said, much calmer than she felt. "That should not be surprising. What is surprising is that Carter over there has any potential to plumb at all. He's a bully of mine who turned bitter when I finally stood up to him, and all I see here is him wallowing in more of the same. But as James says, I bear no grudge with the rest of your Horde."
Carter had a temper, that she knew, and talking about him like she just did like he wasn't even present was bound to get on his nerves. Mina did not even look at him, plugged into her birds drones as she was, meaning that if he moved to attack her while her back was turned, she would know about it. But she was looking for him to give Scythirax—or her—an excuse to punish the breach of the brief detente.
Edited by JumpingFruit on Aug 5th 2024 at 8:27:26 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.Freeze
Somewhere in the back of Heather's mind, she was pleased as hell that she had actually pulled off her own variation of dishonorable lightsaber combat. A successful feint, the spearing of this asshole, the potential to claim a long-awaited kill and drink deep of the bloodshed, the violins screech loud, ready for the chorus...!
The Lady in White comes due.
Stabbed in the back, pain falls to numbness. Heather assumes it's a toxin, has to be, if it's come due then it's a toxin, right? She can almost imagine her body crystallizing as it falls numb. She can't quite bother to hear the monologue going on behind her as she collapses forwards.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.Pablo placed a hand on the girl's back and closed his eyes. This was a spell he came up with for when he was in really bad shape. But he was used to casting that stuff on himself. Now, the spell reaches outside...
"Enduring Ember" If he cast it properly, she'd be able to move at least until someone who knows how to treat all this.
And all those thoughts vanished the moment when the nastier son of Sauron appeared. How did this guy even sneak up on them?
"We are bleeding hearts, I guess, and I doubt your dropout would have willing to part with his 'toys'" He said, with disgust. Could he reach Heather and not get injured? He needed to think his next move carefully. This guy gave him a new level of the creeps.
Wake me up at your own risk.Ross Chase - Vs Dhakar
The thing that emerged in front of them. It was big. Its body spoke of its previous prey. And it was boisterous. Too boisterous. That degree of boasting is reserved for facing someone outside of their domain, not for facing a Ross Chase in his element. Right now, the timid Ross was replaced by a Ross that gladly responded to the challenge.
"What makes you think I cannot handle a Dhakar rally, huh? We've conquered the seas, we've conquered space, you're just another obstacle in the way of humanity's freedom!" Ross shouted in reply, his behind-the-wheel persona in full display. He aimed the flamethrower at its face, hoping to... not necessarily damage it, given the whole I'm built out of metal bits thing, but to blind it. Daze it. Have fire occupy all of its vision. Disorient it. Kinda like throwing sand into someone's eyes. And then he set out to his role in all of this. Be quick. Be agile. Be manoeverable. Be an annoyance, attract its attention, focus on not getting hit, and let the ice mage deal damage. "Good thing they call you Everliving, cause we're beating the everliving shit out of you, whoo!"
The adjustments on the car were already in effect. The car was buffed for speed. The wheels aligned themselves for the situation, gaining a slight toe out, for that cornering over straight speed stability. (besides, a bit of twitchiness never hurt. Can't be predicted if you don't fully know where you're going, eh?)
Here in my car, I feel safest of all. I can lock all my doors, it's the only way to live in cars.Jayden
Jayden stared at the exit for a long, long time.
Logically, he knew he should go through. He'd already been gone much longer than he'd intended; remaining out here any longer would rouse even more suspicion. He was best off just heading inside, making his excuses, and then looking into whatever this was another day.
And yet.
And yet if Elwood was telling the truth, this tunnel led to Erakeen. Erakeen, the same district where the raiders were hiding. What if they were still there? What if they had something—something—that could solve the mystery, or get Jayden's family out of Green Wall, or screw over one of the many antagonistic factions in Sandfield? And if he waited too long, who's to say they would remain there? If they disappeared with what they stole, then...
It's crazy. It's stupid. It's about the dumbest thing I could do.
...fuck it.
Jayden turned and headed down the tunnels to where Erakeen hopefully was, pondering whether he'd made a single good decision in his life. Oh well. Youth was for making mistakes, right?
"Look inside yourself and to the stars; there, you will find your answers."Rebecca Weathers - Vs Dhakar
If Becca was intimidated by the gate distorting, or Dhakar emerging from it and yelling threats at them, her face gave no indication of it. She simply held out both of her hands, stared down the demon, and answered his load boasting with but a single word:
"Chill."
White-blue misty energy glowed in the palms of Becca's outstretched hands, and ice began to form on the ground under Dhakar's feet. More continued to grow, crawling up the demon's leg and hopefully keeping it in place for a bit while Chase was distracting it. But extra ice was continuing to form under Dhakar's feet, trying to tip him back through the portal which he'd come.
"Veda! Try and close the portal if his head goes through the portal!" Becca yelled, strain in her voice from trying to make enough ice to move the metal behemoth that was Dhakar. "Or his torso! Anything that would help if we chop it off!"
Scythirax's armored hand holding the long knife so responsible for Heather's wound tilted, and he visibly flicked it a little. "...Except all in all, what you've done shows rather obvious disrespect for me and my time. And now we have your friend lying here in the midst of our base. It sends a rather unfortunate message."
He then held the knife before he threw it to the ground by Carter's side, making the young man wince and jump a little, "That lovely little item is called a Cinquedea - a long knife preferred by the Italians during the Renaissance and a gift from my Hunting Association friends. And it is a wide enough blade that, when it is planted between vertebrae in the thoracic to lumbar section of the spinal column, the result is that she is...quite paralyzed. You see, I have fought longer than you, or your parents, or your grandparents, or your great grandparents have been alive. I was pillaging the townships of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt before your families were even an idea. Just...for some perspective."
When Pablo and Mina moved to try and help Heather, he promptly knelt down and waved the ember away, making a sort of tsk tsk tsk noise as he himself propped Heather up.
With her in his grip, he lightly tapped her forehead with every thick digit of his large claw. "I know better than most exactly what needs to be done to render very, very specific injuries. I could activate my Nihil Claw enough to render her eye a melted, oozing fleshy crater, dripping with pus, or I could simply heat up the outside of the claw and lightly warm her dear little cheeks."
All said in a polite, informative tone. No moral evaluations either way of the implications of his statements. But the exact terms used remained - and made it clear exactly what kind of man Scythirax was. James would be able in an instant to see the nascent, horrifying bloodlust swimming under the surface of politeness - a vision of him and his friends splattered and tortured and slain across this very room. All simply viewed as a charming possibility by Scythirax.
When Mina made her case, this seemed to make Scythirax chuckle a little bit.
Carter for his part propped himself up, gritting his teeth through the pain of his injuries, and belted out, "...ohhh, you...you bitch, you fucking bit—-"
Scythirax then interrupted, "Now now, Carter, quiet now, you're hardly in a condition to make any invective or do much beyond wait for Saraam." He then looked at Mina, "I am quite willing to make a deal, a parlay. My healer, aforementioned Saraam the Flesh-Sculptor, will patch your dear little Heather back up to full strength and capacity. He's quite gifted. Of course, I will require a commitment on your end."

Ross Chase - Perpetual Forge.
"Here's the thing. I don't just want to resist its possession," Ross said quietly, "I, uh,...", he paused, conflicted about the plan still.
Here, let me put it in easy to understand language. You want to use me as bait.
Not... not exactly. I have trust in the strength of your soul. You're built different.
You want this formless asshole to look at me, and think 'what a lovely piece of metal to make a part of my body', and then your plan is 'let's hope my KITTen is strong enough to extinguish that thing's flame while its inside her, and not turn into Christine in the process'. That's a real solid plan there, Ross.
Look, it was just an idea, Katie. I still think you could pull it off.
...You think highly enough of me to gamble with my life, huh? Well then. If you want to go through with this, be right there in the cab with me. I want you to put your life on the line as well.
... ... ... Deal.
Ross then continued. "I want to make its possession backfire on it. Spectacularly."
Edited by JackCossack on Jul 18th 2024 at 12:40:56 PM
Here in my car, I feel safest of all. I can lock all my doors, it's the only way to live in cars.