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Post by Jina on Dec 18, 2009 4:37:26 GMT -5
The Hospital Somehow, the catboy had removed her Formation. Huh. Time to run, maybe? She immediately Grappled the window behind her, forced it open, and jumped back through, shutting it behind her. He was doing something with his arm and not paying attention, so just for fun she made another Formation, this time of herself where she had been. He started walking towards it. He looked like he was about to destroy it, so she Formed words on the window. Meet me in the ER, catboy. Then, she snuck back into the shadows of the Underdeep.
Sandra was crawling around the wall, when she saw the other shapeshifter. She waited for her to be near, then jumped and flapped her wings a bit. However, she stopped as soon as possible in order to try and not be heard. This was a sneak attack, after all.
She landed right on the shapeshifter's head, and wasted no time. Sandra transformed into a troll.
Merpo's Whatever-it-is "I'm currently busy trying to kill the maid. Care to help?"
It wasn't directed at Jina, but still. Some sort of focus. Jina pulled around her cloak and grabbed out her Chloroform.
...but the maid was so pretty...
What?
...
Let's just knock this bea-
Don't say it!
Jina opened the chloroform bottle and shoved it right under the maid's nose. Anticlimactically, nothing happened. Jina looked at the bottle. Well, it says Chloroform on the label... Unless someone replaced it with water, or something?
Jina pulled the bottle towards her, and sniffed it experimentally.
...
Oyup. Definitely Chloroform. She must have not had a good sniff.
...
Wait...
...
Now that was stupid.
With her last ounce of conciousness, Jina attempted to knock the maid out once more. She didn't stay awake long enough to see if it worked.
Mage Manor Basement Halin ripped out the last part of the door, then started inspecting the stone wall behind it. He gave it an experimental stab, but the wall, unsurpisingly, didn't budge. Corenu attempted to ram it with his horn.
"That was painful. Any more bright ideas?"
"The other two could probably get rid of that thing in seconds, but I'd rather not."
"You can't knock it down, I can't knock it down."
"...But I bet a big monster could." Halin grabbed the pouch from around Corenu's neck. "Block out the mooks, will you? I don't want interference. Then hide."
Corenu created a wall of light so that the shadows would stay away, then went behind it. Halin dropped the pebble on to the floor without touching it. He took off his shoes and socks. Then, he took a run at the wall, standing on the pebble as he went. Creatures appeared around him, saw him running at the wall, and chased him. However, unlike Halin, they didn't dive to the side at the end of the run, and all crashed the wall at once. There were some quite big creatures in the group, too.
Halin jumped to his feet before the monsters had time to recover from the crash. He ran behind Corenu's wall. The monsters followed suit, and were attacked by shadows.
Halin and Corenu went back across the wall, and looked at the stone wall. "Hey look, a crack! I'm surprised that worked."
Halin pulled his socks and shoes back on, then picked up the pebble with the pouch and gave it back to Corenu. "Yeah, but I don't want to try that again. I think we made too much noise. Still though... I think we can work with this."
They started attacking it again. Slowly, they started to pull out chips. With one final big swing, Halin's sword burst straight through. Not a huge hole, but enough of one. Corenu removed his wall, and the shadows advanced.
Castle Kestrel Owen would have gone into the big castle next to him, if not for one thing. There was a big purple building in sight, and he remembered the dragon. Coincidence? Maybe. But I don't really care. ((Besides which, there's nobody in Castle Kestrel right now. *cough*))
So, Owen kept running.
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Post by Strife on Dec 18, 2009 5:46:10 GMT -5
((Merpo's Lab))
A Fleet officer came rushing into the lab shortly after Strife had begun speaking to Rider. "Are you Commander Strife?" he asked eagerly, in a voice that Strife recognized as Amneiger.
He was too late though, as Strife had already turned in the direction of the Underdeep portal, set his motor bike on the ground and hopped on. When he squeezed the accelerator, the tires screeched wildly before he zoomed off into the portal.
Inside the portal itself, it looked more like a tunnel of mirrors, reflecting images of Merpo's lab into infinity. As he drove deeper into the tunnel, though, his surroundings grew darker. He was getting closer to the Underdeep once again.
For a moment, he remembered just what he had said to himself earlier - that he wouldn't let the nightmare world take him back. What was he thinking then, going back in there? As much as he wanted to address how illogical it was, doing so would give him something to be afraid of, and that's not what he needed right now. His mind and body needed to be free of all fears, or else he'd be back where he started. Besides, if Merpo had the answers...
Speaking of which, Strife wondered if he would even appear in the same location as the exiled scientist when he reached the Underdeep. For all he knew, this portal would transport him to a random location. Once again, he prefered not to think about it too much, else he become afraid of getting lost.
Strife focused his mind on the task at hand, thinking of nothing else. He continued to barrel down the tunnel of darkness.
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Post by Rider on Dec 18, 2009 14:16:07 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Merpo's Lab[/glow]
"Commander Strife!?"
Rider froze. The Commander? The one who had nearly killed Speckles and everyone in the last war?
And as quickly as he appeared, he was gone.
Rider wanted to clobber him off that stupid bike, but every instinct kept her frozen in place. The notion that the Underdeep would kill him before she could was little to no comfort.
"What the hell was that? I thought he was dead."
She shook her head. Deep breath in... out... The moment passed.
"No, seriously, Amnei, right? Amneiger of Spacefleet. This Merpo, he was one of your guys. Maybe you know what this is." She gestured towards the suit blueprints lying on the table.
And then, unable to hold back another outburst, "No, really, what was that?"
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Post by Huntress on Dec 18, 2009 16:49:21 GMT -5
((That Mansion In Tabloid Town Where All The Acshun Is, Making Coming Up With Original Titles This Much Harder By The Day. ...what do you mean, I could just call it Merpo Mansion in every post? Where's the fun in that?))
Since Kassandra was continuously out of commission - she seemed to be having more trouble with the acid-tipped bolt than she'd expected - Hunty could afford to focus on other things, which was only good, because she really wanted to focus on this weasel-girl who popped out of the mansion again.
"Captain, someone called Strife just volunteered to go after Merpo. I think he's with the fleet," she said, then turned to Amnei. "That name sound familiar?"
Amnei's only reaction was "Commander Strife?", then he ran off. Hunty scowled.
"Commander? Man, they really burn through commanders a lot, don't they? Anyway..."
She glanced to make sure that Kassandra wasn't lunging at her throat just yet, then smacked Zylaa somewhat half-heartedly with the stock of her crossbow.
"Recap," she said, in a voice that was grumpy more than angry. "If we're going to sort out a potentially very big trouble that involves talking very nicely to a very unstable and weird guy, you are not to barge into his house uninvited. People could talk. And if we're going to deal with something that might well involve cosmic horrors and certain death, you are not to run face-first into it. Had me worried there." She stuck the crossbow back to her corset belts. "So the guy said that he'd fetch Merpo? Good, less work for us. All we have to do is keep to a nice safe distance. Where's Rider and Nasue?"
In the meantime, Jina ran up to the wounded elf and gave her chloroform. Which was, quite frankly, a really smart move. Then she sniffed it herself and fainted. Which was, quite frankly, a really dumb move.
But it seemed to work, albeit belatedly. The nagging strings of thought were letting go of Hunty's brain.
you're a vile, worthless parasite
this poor girl, this pure angel
whee, unicorns and cheese amdfgnnnf
Kassandra fell over. Or rather, she slid slowly and gracefully down the doorjamb and dropped on the doorway with a quiet sigh, her hair cascading all around her and her beautiful body remaining in a... well, frankly pretty uncomfortable half-on-back, half-sideways position, but it looked graceful and sad, so it was no wonder. Hunty grinned and marched up the stairs, fetching a length of rope from one of her numerous pockets.
"She'll probably wiggle out of it once she wakes up and show up again at the most inconvenient time, but that's the best we can do right now," she said, tying the elf's hands behind her back and against the door hinge for good measure, then tossed Kassandra's sword down on the lawn and turned to look at Jina.
"Well, this is inconvenient. I'm not dragging her around. Does anyone have smelling salts or do I have to go the inhumane way and have the blarf breathe on her?"
***
Bloody Mary stared at the figure that'd just disappeared into the Underdeep. Then he edged away from the little puddle that'd appeared around his paws.
He scrambled up Rider's clothes and landed on her shoulder. He liked shoulders. Gave a better overview.
"Heard that voice?" he muttered. "Cos I know I did."
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Post by Amneiger on Dec 18, 2009 17:22:02 GMT -5
As the cloaked figure turned and began to leave, Amneiger got a better look at it. It...could have been Commander Strife? It was hard to tell with all those strange clothes on him.
"Yes, I'm Amneiger. Nobody in Spacefleet had any idea where the Commander was, or even if he was alive or not. Is that an entrance to the Underdeep? I'm supposed to be here investigating Underdeep openings. Hold on, let me check that name." Amneiger opened the laptop he was carrying; if the hacker hadn't been too much trouble for the Spacefleet computer network's defensive systems, then he should still at least be able to access the archives for the Spacefleet science division.
"Merpo...he was from before I arrived at the NTWF. It says here that he was fired for stealing lab equipment. Doesn't say what though. And the file certainly doesn't mention anything about the Underdeep. But then why would he have a mansion right on top of it?"
He turned to look at the blueprints for the suit as the minitank. He ordered it to go in front of the entrance to the Underdeep as Amneiger spent a few minutes going over the blueprints. "Huh...there's something odd about the structure of this. It doesn't look like it was optimally designed for use against actual attacks. It's designed to completely go over the whole body, though, and I recognize this life support system. Maybe some sort of isolation suit, although against what I'm not too sure. There are better designs for the standard biological-chemical-radioactive set of hostile environments. Hold on a moment."
Amneiger considered calling Fraze and telling him that the Pirates had told him that someone who called themself Strife had entered the Underdeep, but decided against it. There wasn't a whole lot of evidence to say that it really was Commander Strife; the person had simply claimed that their name was Strife, and Amneiger hadn't gotten a good enough look at them to say whether or not they were the Commander. On the other hand, if the stranger was still near the Underdeep opening the minitank might be able to get a good look at him. With that, he turned back to the laptop and began typing.
> Enter tunnel >> 6: Understood. Entering tunnel.
The minitank turned and went down into the Underdeep. On the laptop, the only thing visible was darkness. There was some kind of solid ground at the minitank was traveling on, but there wasn't a great deal of light to see with.
Amneiger had time to wonder whether the Underdeep would try to tap into nonexistant fears in the minitank's non-sentient mind, or whether there was some way for it to sense his fears through the connection and use those instead.
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Post by Celestial on Dec 18, 2009 19:17:21 GMT -5
((Brassport, where something needs to happen really quickly. *coughcoughSarnandTokacough*))
"How did we get here? And don't just tell me who did it. I want to know the process." the girl asked. She was very curious indeed. Unfortunately, Celestial had no choice but to shrug.
"I don't know how to do it. Certainly no mage in the entire guild is capable of teleporting a whole city over, let alone do it for the other guilds," she replied, looking around. It was getting rather boring now, just talking to thse people. Something needed to happen here. It was stirring and she could feel the reaosn why.
Something was happening in the Underdeep, even though things should be happening here.
But that's good! The Underdeep will be defeated eventually and it will all be well. Please let nothing happen to the surface, let this plan come to nothing.
Silence Celestial! I command you now, not you.
((Spacefleet Network))
"OH, LAWLZ, MY MISTAKE! MUST BE TURNING THE HANDLE THE WRONG WAY!" boomed a very loud and obnoxious voice, reminding The Author of the pop-ups which she had to clean away long ago when she was a maintenance program. Ah yes, good times with the flamethrower...
The door opened and The Author watched through kitten eyes as a green box came out with a red ribbon. The box opened with a flash of awesome pyrotechnicss and binary which really must have cost an absolute fortune in special effects. Certainly they must have taken up a good portion of the budget, explaining this guy's speech patterns. Now she understood why she had to keep referring to the guy as a LOLcat.
He stood over her, like a giant standy-over statue, which is a very awkward and fillerish way of saying anything. Also, he had a Slasher SmileTM on. All The Author did was look utterly frightened and helpless as a kitten, looking up at Omega SS like a lady would look at her knight in shining armour. All the code of the type 1052 maintenance program came to the surface, including the most basic of her AI functions which were built in when she was programmed by the research team who created her here. Hopefully it should be enough to fool the anti-virus for just a little bit.
"YOU CAN HAS!"[/b] it cried out and roared, making the whole place look like a sweet rave party. If she wasn't in disguise The Author would have modified reality to have a BLAM moment where everyone was dancing to disco music. Oh the potential that can never be realised because, as GozillaCat would say 'I are serious cat, this is serious thread'. Although you couldn't tell from looking. No matter how serious, Guild Wars always managed to just be a little bit funny.
Missiles launched out of the cat's ears as well as it stomping its feet was just too much. But then again, there really was no kill like overkill.
CRACK!
"Bad kitty! The Fourth Wall is already unstable!" the shadow clone said to Omega SS. The Author mewled as the missiles headed towards them, a signal for her clone. The clone grabbed the kitten Author while it cried out and mewled pitifully, imitating a damsel in distress. The clone waved the kitten in front of the missiles, which The Author thought was pretty darn heartless. Still, she neutralised the missiles for the clone with a few seemingly accidental flicks of the paw. It would just look like the clone waved a the kitten program in front of the missiles to be cruel before stopping them.
"Stop this! Or else I'll corrupt this little thing and make it into one of my own clones then send it to do the spying!" it cried out. The Author wanted to facepalm. There was so much logically wrong with that statement. First of all, the Omega thing wouldn't care about her, even if it mistook her for a maintenance program. Also, even if it did care, there was just so much cliche about the hostage situation and so many ways that this trope could fail that her genre-savviness wanted to scream.
So it did. The kitten yowled pitifully and adorably, trying to be as threatened as possible. Then again, KITTENS! Ok, that caps lock was not neccessary.
And because it is a nice reference, clone, I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now. Even though you broke my heart and tried to make it look like you tried to kill me.[/color]
Well, that reference died specacularly. Like her metaphor. In any case, she was still alive. She needed to incorporate that song into one of her posts sometime.
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Post by Vyt: Down, but Not Out on Dec 18, 2009 19:22:07 GMT -5
Just a few inches away from the owner, Vyt flicked his right hand forward. The crimson red energy that flickered around it was sent flying like a bullet, towards the girl. In a matter of seconds, the figure was burning, with the head cleaned off the shoulders.
However, the figure suddenly disintegrated as well, like the illusion of himself earlier.
"Meet me at the ER, catboy," spelt the words that formed on the window.
Vyt was still for a moment, and for a reason.
"... Where the heck is the ER?!"
Ignoring the message, the catboy looked around. He lost track of Bird and the roc, and the damage he willingly incurred upon himself could restrict him from any excessive body movements for awhile. The sharp pain gradually returned as the abrupt rush of adrenaline from earlier receded back into his glands.
Vyt was surprisingly down to his knees. Surprising for himself, for it was the first time he received little damage yet recoiled from it.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have done that thing earlier... It's really taking a toll on me."
Still, he kept his senses up high. Either Bird or the roc could be anywhere, and they might make any sound.
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Post by Rider on Dec 18, 2009 20:03:10 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Merpo's Lab (and I'm the only one who still calls it that.)[/glow]
"Heard that voice?" he muttered. "Cos I know I did."
"You mean that wasn't the Underdeep playing tricks on my brain? Man, for a second there I thought he was some kinda monster too."
She paused as she remembered the Commander's glowy eyes.
"But who's to say he's not?"
She watched the minitank disappear into the darkness. Her fingers hovered around the spine of her stolen book. What was it that Lexandr had said? "With all due respect, Fleeter, I'd put shinies on the notion that a robot isn't gonna get you the info you're looking for. The Underdeep isn't going to acknowledge it. If we could get a living, breathing, thinking person in there - with some sorta protection of course, then maybe we can figure out how this bunny ticks."
[glow=red,2,300]Brassport[/glow]
"I don't know how to do it. Certainly no mage in the entire guild is capable of teleporting a whole city over, let alone do it for the other guilds,"
Adeline's face fell. "So it isn't possible. We can't go home."
"There might not be a magical way, but there could still be a scientific way. Please, is there anyone else we could speak to. Someone who's not a... someone with different talents than yourselves."
Asking for help from thier enemies seemed like a bad idea, so Adeline backed up and amended her statement. "I don't care about your world and your politics. Why should I? I just want to go home."
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Post by Draco on Dec 18, 2009 21:28:43 GMT -5
<<The Crash Site Of The Mercs, A Star, A Lost Steampunk Guy, And Fast Approaching Ninjas>>
Gil smiles and bows like he did earlier, this time without his coat on of course.
"My name is Gil Maxwell. I hail from the city of Brassport, from a realm not like this one. Our technology is steamed power and alchemy is strong. I was on a scouting trip of this new land when I came about yo- I mean the mercs and their vehicle. I figured now would be a good time to make contact with the natives of this land."
He stands back up and walks over to his coat, brushing it off. He slides it back on, but doesn't button it.
A few feet away from the group three figures form out of the shadows. The ninjas have arrived.
Draco is the first to step out. "The mercs! They aren't dead!"
The other two nod their heads in agreement.
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Post by Kiddo on Dec 18, 2009 23:43:28 GMT -5
Outside Mage Manor
It was... a lot different than she remembered. Of course, Kiddo's memory wasn't very reliable at the moment. The mist clouded things and seemed to remove her sense of judgment to a degree. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this calm.
Especially not after being hit by a fireball, a shift in form, and running herself past the point of exhaustion.
It probably wasn't a good thing. She had to get out of this half-realm at some point, but if her subconscious had completely dictated the persona change... well... she wasn't quite ready to try anything other than what she knew she had right now.
Which was a good deal of things, really. She was invisible to normal sight, at least so long as the sun was up, she was strong, fast, agile, and a had a hellishly good set of claws. Kiddo unconsciously felt herself flexing them as she regarded the Manor. It was much larger than she remembered. Part of her mind supposed that she would be jealous, were she not seeing it in half-mist, but that part of the mind was too far away to be listened to. Instead, she listened to the Manor. And after a moment of that, she walked up and calmly rested her head against it, long ears pressed against stone that didn't feel as real as it should.
It was like the Manor had a heartbeat. It was soothing. And somehow, she felt like the Manor was listening to her as well.
"I just need in," she whispered, "I need answers. So many things have changed... you barely existed last I was here. We locked our nightmares away behind a door, three levels deep. But now strange things are happening and I don't understand. I need answers."
And with the same calm resolution she'd uttered her plea in, she started to climb the wall, digging her claws into the stone. The Manor took notice and while Kiddo should have been screaming in panic and REALLY wishing she had wings, she only kept climbing, the only concern that the Manor might attack back being translated simply as "what will be, will be."
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Dec 18, 2009 23:57:51 GMT -5
Mage Manor
Lupehunter was finally glad to be free from Omni's accidental tight grasp on his hand when she released it. He quickly shook it off before muttering a healing spell. As soon as he was finished, he sensed something outside the Manor (again) and groaned.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me. We've got a bit of a two pronged attack going on, though it's not much. One's on the outside, climbing the wall, while the others are..." he said before suddenly stopping.
"Bloody hell, the others are inside the manor. I can't tell you where, but I have a sinking feeling in my stomach where they are coming from-the entrance to the Underdeep."
He summoned a staff with a ruby attached to one of the ends.
"Omni, what's our plan of action?"
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Post by Ikkin on Dec 19, 2009 11:01:53 GMT -5
Ikkin listened quietly as the situation with Sev was explained, trying to make sense of it.
"Perhaps," the reptilian ninja started to say loudly. "A short time ago me and my comrades were attacked by a firebird. One of them... slammed her fist into it, and it exploded. It took her with it." He paused for a moment, looking confused, and finished with, "Mayhaps one of my comrades could expand."
Ikkin really wasn't sure what to make of that. She was afraid Sev would try to hurt someone, so it wasn't really all that surprising to find out that he had... but, even if Sev had been killed, he should have come back right away. She couldn't feel his magic anywhere, and that worried her... especially since he'd killed someone, and even if she didn't know who it was, she had to...
Her thoughts were cut off as the ninja she should have known said something surprising. "I-I don't know... but... Kiddo..."
Wait. Kiddo?! Ikkin might not have remembered much, but she definitely knew she knew that name... and that it was one she did not expect to come up in the present tense. Well, recent past now, she supposed.
Before she could respond in any way but a look of shock, the mage she didn't recognize explained further. "Sev tried to roast Kiddo for one reason or another. Well twice anyways. After spearing him didn't work she tried to grab onto him, for reason's we're not too sure of. And then Sev exploded and Kiddo was gone."
This was all too much, Ikkin thought. Sev had turned violent and killed a very important NTWFer who had just come back after years of absence... and neither of them had come back like they should.
Wait. How did she know that?
Somehow, Ikkin's memories were getting clearer. Maybe it was because whatever was corrupting Sev was gone?
But, if that was the case, why hadn't Sev come back? The bond between the two of them should have allowed him to restore himself immediately...
As if on cue, there was a flash of phoenix fire on the ground where Ikkin presumed the fight between Sev and Kiddo had ended.
***
Sev felt exhausted, as if he'd slept for ages but hadn't gotten any rest.
The last thing he remembered was... hm. He couldn't remember what it was, and that seemed like a bad sign.
And, to make matters worse, he was dead.
Granted, it wasn't that big of a deal, since he was a phoenix. But, it was still kind of inconvenient and annoying, especially since he had no idea how he'd gotten into that position to begin with.
In any case, Ikkin was trying to figure out what happened to him, and she seemed to be worried, so he might as well put an end to that. He'd never really tried to revive himself in a way that wasn't instantaneous or at dawn before, but, considering that he was dead anyway, using phoenix fire couldn't hurt...
He quickly decided he was wrong about that. He'd gotten his body back, true... but there was something decidedly wrong about it, as if it didn't want to do what he wanted to do.
Well, either that, or it wanted him to do what he didn't want to do.
Before Sev could even fight back, it flew directly at the mage who was holding Kiddo's spear and pendant, snatched them out of his hand, and flew up in the sky.
He managed to take back enough control so it couldn't fly away with it - not that he even knew where it was going, or what it intended to do - but only managed to fly in circles in the air.
"Ikkin, stop me! I'm not..."
Before he could explain, his voice was cut off by whatever it was that was controlling his body.
***
"Ikkin, stop me! I'm not...
Ikkin had no idea what had happened to Sev that allowed him to talk again, but she could figure that out later.
Right now, she needed to stop Sev from doing something stupid again... and, hopefully, get him back to his senses.
First things were first, though. Subduing a phoenix was something she knew she couldn't do herself - so, she summoned a huge wind above him to force him down closer to the ground.
"Please, just help me stop him!" she called out desperately, feeling far more worried for him than she really ought to have been.
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Post by Omni on Dec 19, 2009 17:02:57 GMT -5
Mage Manor - office
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me. We've got a bit of a two pronged attack going on, though it's not much. One's on the outside, climbing the wall, while the others are..." He paused. Omni didn't like the following language used, but she didn't have time to object before he continued. "The others are inside the manor. I can't tell you where, but I have a sinking feeling in my stomach where they are coming from-the entrance to the Underdeep."
About then, she felt a vibration shake the floor. It was sharp, short, and felt like a smash. She groaned in frustration.
"Omni, what's our plan of action?"
Omni paused. "Well I'm not too good at this..." She thought for a moment. "...But I think we should head for the basement. I think the doors and such can hold themselves, but the basement is a kind of hole. I definitely don't want to leave that unattended. Come on."
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Post by Nasuella on Dec 19, 2009 18:04:12 GMT -5
The place where Merpo lives - to be precise, close to his lab
Nasue's thrashing ceased as she lost consciousness. She was clearly still alive, but... well, not conscious.
--
Battleground near TT Hospital
The "surprise" part of the "surprise attack" definitely worked. Kwoi only had a moment to suspect that something might be up before the dragonfly on her head rapidly changed into something much bigger and heavier. Another shapeshifter?! For the love of--this is EXACTLY what I needed!
The sound of "Bird" yelling foul language could be heard for some distance.
Kwoi's head sharply met the ground. As this happened, she focused on another change, this time to the muscles in her head and neck - they sharply increased in size to the point of being obvious. With a growl, she let the rest of her drop to the ground, then rolled to the side. She threw her head back, attempting to stab the troll with her horn.
--
Near the Ninja Dojo
As he expected, two of the others who were with the Screaming Dragon (one of whom had picked up a spear and a pendant) gave their own accounts on what happened. To his surprise, both of them mentioned that the name of the strange winged former ninja was Kiddo - and his surprise showed. I-I believed I knew Kiddo was a goat! You have my permission to facepalm at that pun.
Regardless, he was glad that they helped. Kovaran looked up at the stranger once more, but she seemed to be upset and worried. He opened his mouth to speak -- and then there was a flash.
The firebird had returned. Kovaran reached for the grip of his Colossal Sword, but already the bird (Sev?) had made its move. It grabbed the spear and pendant from the mage's hands, and began to fly in circles above them. The stranger seemed to call a massive wind, and asked the ninjas for help.
And the firebird seemed to have called for help as well... but since when could firebirds speak?
In any case, the komodo dragon unfastened the strap which kept Zankantou on his back, and dropped the sword on the ground with a loud thud, denting the ground beneath it. He crouched, waiting for a few seconds--
--then he leaped into a tree with almost explosive force, grabbing the trunk to stop his flight. He climbed up onto a branch, and prepared to make another leap, this time to grab the firebird. But he hesitated this time. Firebirds were dangerous, and while he was willing to brave danger and threaten his own life for the sake of the greater good... how could he be sure that this was a good idea?
Then he made his mind up.
With a roar, he sprang from the tree, aimed for the firebird.
--
Tabloid Town
The old man was unconscious on the ground. Blood seeped from a cut on his forehead, but otherwise he would be fine.
Oncara sighed in frustration as he walked through the streets of Tabloid Town once more. This investigation wasn't going well at all. His contact had suggested not using so much force, but even with reduced force the people he questioned were less than cooperative.
Speaking of contacts...
The panther headed towards the nearest tavern. One of his contacts here frequented The River Tigris; perhaps he'd have more luck.
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Post by Ikkin on Dec 19, 2009 19:44:30 GMT -5
Even though Sev knew Ikkin was just trying to keep him from hurting anyone, it still felt wrong for her to help his enemies try to take him down.
Enemies? Why was he thinking like that?
Before he had a chance to figure that out, the reptilian ninja was leaping at him. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to dodge out of the way, fly around, and blast him with fire for attacking him...
...but the rational part of him knew he was dangerous, and that was enough to keep him right where he needed to be to have a giant lizard land on him.
He figured that having all of his bones crushed should have hurt a lot more. Maybe he was too far gone to feel it - he sensed the tips of his wings starting to catch aflame, and knew he was dying. Again.
But, no. He couldn't do that again. It'd just give whatever was controlling him a restored body to use to attack people again.
So, with a tremendous effort, he stopped, and just laid there, motionless, hoping that his senses would stay as dull as they usually were when he was about to revive.
They didn't, and it was all he could do not to cry out.
***
Ikkin had known when she asked for the others' help that it might very well be necessary for Sev to be taken down by force to keep him from hurting people... but, seeing him broken like that just made something in her crack. She let her control over the wind drop, leaving undirected wind to blast everyone within a thousand feet of Sev, and dashed over to him, tripping several times on the way.
"Get off of him!" she screamed at the lizard ninja who'd crushed Sev, then knelt down by him to get a better look. She couldn't remember ever seeing him so helpless before... and all she could feel was an overwhelming rage at the one who'd done it.
She knew there was some reason why she shouldn't be mad at him... but, it was hidden underneath the increasing fuzziness of her memories and overwhelmed by the part of her that just wanted to tear someone apart limb by limb. Preferably the one who'd hurt Sev.
"You didn't have to do that to him!" she yelled, drawing her sword to force the ninja away from the injured Sev, intending to get between them so Sev wouldn't get hurt again. "I wanted to fix him, not kill him!"
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