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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2010 19:41:40 GMT -5
((Celestial: No problem, my fault for not making it obvious. ^^))
<<Brassport: Assembly Hall>> -Asta->>
"I was taking about wherever Celestial- the dragon- had gone off to. You've captured the other mage but she's still out there and no doubt causing something. You need to try and find her there."
"And how do we do that?" Asta asked. "Do you know where she is?" Looking over to Ro, she added, "What is a mystic? Are they mages?"
"They are...intelligent, magical animals, to put it shortly." Ro sighed. "There are several species. Most communicate mentally. At least one is somewhere around here, traveling with..." The knight frowned, as if thinking of how to phrase something. "A mage. Weewoos," she continued, "I do not know much about. Very well...I don't know a dragon mage, but we may want to find her quickly. Ahora..."
"Er, actually, it does hold, and... we will. And if you're with one of the Guilds, I'll need to have a word with you."
Ro just looked at them, raising a brow in an expression that translated to, "I am being cordial with you now, but if you really want to push me that far, you will regret it." At least, that's what Asta thought it said. Either way, the knight looked like she didn't want to be messed with.
"I wonder. For a city that just wants to get back home, why are you so eager to intrude on our buisness? Because like it or not, that mage, and for that matter the conman we're looking for... they're our problem. You just happened to get dragged into it."
Asta sighed. She has a point...
But getting home...Is that what's most important to me? Right now? With all this conflict?
Shouldn't some things be put aside until later?
"Officers? Interviews? After being deceived, and assaulted, by two mages, you can't say it's not our problem." She tightened the grip of her blade, head throbbing as she started to get worked up. "More importantly, I'm not about to let a huge threat, which we managed to subdue, out of this room.
"So. Stay and question the mage if you want. I don't think anyone will object." She glanced around, as if seeking confirmation, and managed to catch Ro slapping her forehead out of the corner of one eye. What exactly she was annoyed about, she could only guess. "But taking someone who is a clearly established threat, to who-knows-where, to do who-knows-what, has got to be one of the dumbest ideas I've yet heard.
"You can provide badges, but you can't provide trust. If you want the mage, settle it legally as you like. But don't shove your way in and act like you own the place."
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Post by Huntress on Jan 17, 2010 20:35:17 GMT -5
((The Hospital))
So. Dead end then.
Things seemed to have calmed down for the time being, so Hunty laid back on the blarf's back and stared at the stars. She nodded her affirmation as Jina and Rider drove off, dropped a dry little 'be careful' and fell in thoughts.
"Well, I think I'll just go and-" Rane began helplessly.
No you won't. TMC was pretty much staring out through the back of his head at that point. Rane's sensory organs were too human for a Horseman's purposes, but he could still use the gem to draw conclusions from the world around him, and he didn't really like what was happening in his immediate presence.
"...um, something's happening," Rane said, listening to the little voices in his head.
Then the hospital exploded. Hunty raised her head to stare at it.
"You don't say," she said, sitting bolt upright. "At this rate we'll all never be allowed to enter this town again. Rane, get up here. Where'd Jina and Rider go?"
"Thataway," Bloody Mary said, nodding towards the collapsing hospital. Hunty took a deep breath.
"Goshdarnit to heck," she grumbled. "Move it, boy."
The blarf broke into a heavy, rather complicated gallop just as Rane had somewhat hesitantly grabbed the fur on his side. He remained clinging to the fur, bobbing furiously up and down with the motions of the blarf's shoulder and fervently muttering "oh dear oh dear ohdearohdear" as the kraken accelerated across the square, until a tentacle reached down and pulled him up.
"You said you can't shut the whole Underdeep," Hunty said, staring straight ahead. "Can you shut this one entrance?"
"Um, yes," Rane said, furrowing his brow and desperately trying to keep his beer down at the same time. In his head, TMC stopped, trying to figure out whether or not this'd complicate things any. "But that way anyone who happens to be in the Underdeep at the time of the closing remains stuck in there."
"Not to worry," the captain snarled. "We'll get 'em out."
As the blarf lowered his head, preparing himself to remodel the hospital entrance to suit his needs a little better, a dragon flew out of the collapsing building. Well, this was convenient. The blarf skidded aside and rocketed towards the new hole in the wall.
"Please, you have to get out right now! The Underdeep has found a much more powerful messenger!" Hunty heard as the blarf leaped into the hospital. Well, peachy. Not that it mattered. She wasn't going to get out while anyone from her crew was still in. This was how it worked.
"Rider! Jina!" She paused. No sense in being discriminative. "Anyone else in here? Get over here at once!"
Well, this is going all possible ways of critical, TMC said, scanning the hallway straight ahead. I can seal this one no problem, but the whole Deep just got a surge of power. I think you'll be looking at a planet-wide outbreak.
Rane's head jerked aside; not that he really had anything to look at, but some things you just have to do. "What?!"
He realized a little too late that this sort of thing might land him in a deep pickle if Hunty was to ask inconvenient questions, but fortunately for him, both she and her shouldermeepit had spotted Nasue's transformation by then and were now staring at her.
"Right, I don't have time for this," Hunty said flatly. "I'll make it brief. Are your intentions still friendly? Cos if not, I'll just feed you to the blarf. I'm far too busy for another battle."
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Post by Amneiger on Jan 18, 2010 0:09:33 GMT -5
Amneiger heard something about the dragon being in the hospital and was about to say something when the whole hospital began collapsing.
Right. That was always a bad sign.
"I'm going to get the dropship into the air where'll it'll be more manueverable. If anybody wants to get on, you'll need to follow me as fast as you can." And with that, Amneiger turned around and ran for the dropship.
One of the technicians was in the process of responding to the Author's question with, "Um, well, we're fine..." when Amneiger came leaping through the door without stopping. "Get us up now! Something bad is coming our way and we can't get caught on the ground!"
The technicians immediately jumped to attention. "Yessir!" Within thirty seconds the dropship was lifting off. Amneiger held the door open as the technicians were going through the startup sequence, but as the dropship got too far from the ground for anybody to reach it he closed the door.
((Anyone who wants to be on the dropship, just write that you followed Amneiger onboard before the ship lifted off.))
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Post by Omni on Jan 18, 2010 2:47:53 GMT -5
Tabloid Town - Near Hospital
"Underdeep... um... I think I might have heard of it?" Jernath responded. "I dunno, some of the more magicky types would mention it sometimes... something about realizing your greatest fears?" The ranger paused. "Oh. That's a bad thing, isn't it..."
"If you're serious, then yes, it's bad." Worried, he turned back toward the hospital, seeing a crowd gather. Among the faces, he spotted a familiar one. He felt that this person had to know, knowing the position thereof. "FRAZE!" He shouted, running at high speed. "COMMANDER FRAZE!"
As he grew near, a dragon shot out of the hospital and it exploded. Instinctively, Ethan jumped, covering his eyes with his arms. He looked down at the rubble of the building, astonished, then looked up at the looming dragon.
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Somewhere in the Great Dark Beyond
"Sir? I have an urgent update: It looks like if we don't act soon, the opportunity will pass."
"Hmm... You may be right. This would be a problem indeed. Alright, do it, before it's too late."
"Alright, sir."
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Post by Jina on Jan 18, 2010 4:04:14 GMT -5
Tabloid Town Hospital Rider took over the hovercar and drove them into the hospital.
Jina sat back for a moment, and thought about this.
Rider just took over the hovercar... and drove us into the hospital.
The big, scary hospital that just happens to be the only building standing in a pile of rubble.
Right.
Then, the hospital started to shake, and a section of wall fell away from them onto the ground.
The hospital - as in, the big scary hospital, the only building left in a pile of rubble, where Rider just drove us into after taking over the hovercar - is falling apart.
Right.
Then, there were several loud noises, which amounted to big things bursting through walls, big things jumping about, and the Captain shouting at them.
A large section of wall was just destroyed, quite possibly by a big scary beast with an even scarier one riding it, probably removing major amounts of structural integrity from a building that's already about to collapse on us, since Rider decided to drive us in here despite the fact that it's a big scary building that just happens to be the only building standing in a large pile of rubble.
Right.
I should probably do something about that.
"Alright Rider, get back into your seat! You obviously have no idea how to drive this thing."
A corner was coming up, so Jina span the car and put on the side thrusters. The car slowed down, but still hit the wall.
"See, what did I tell you? You were going way too fast."
She accelerated forwards, and just as they drove off the ceiling above where they had hit the wall collapsed. Jina took a quick look behind, because according to the rules of drama things that happened three seconds ago were far more important than things that were going to happen in the next three seconds.
Then, she looked again.
Are we being chased by a... shadowy tentacle?
...
Hmm. Maybe it needs a better name than that.
Jina looked forwards again, and saw that they were about to hit a wall.
Correction. Jina looked forwards again, and just as her brain registered that she should turn, the car went straight through the wall.
However, that wasn't too bad, because even with all the dust that just went in her face, Jina was able to recognise the fact that they were about to hit the Blarf.
Correction. Jina's brain realised, through the smoke and the dust, that they were about to hit the Blarf and she should turn. However, the Blarf, obviously annoyed at having been crashed into once that day, pushed the car down with it's tentacles. They slid under it, and Jina finally decided to hit the brakes.
Hello. It is my understanding that we're probably about to get crushed by whatever medical equipment they keep on the second floor. To me, it seems like the obvious thing to do is to leave this building straight away. However, if you want to go chasing any gems that, I don't know, seem like they might stop us from being crushed, when they really just leave the gynecolgy department standing because they weren't as powerful as you thought, then go ahead.
"Oh, there you are. Can we go now?"
Brassport Assembly Hall "So. Stay and question the mage if you want. I don't think anyone will object."
Sandra paused a moment, then nodded. "Very well, I think we'll do that." She and Patri walked over to Rikku. Bending down, Sandra noticed that Rikku was asleep. She won't be very helpful, then.
Whoever was speaking said something about owning the place, but Sandra didn't really listen. Instead, she stood up. "Your prisoner, it seems, is not able to talk right now. That doesn't leave me much choice."
Sandra turned into a Roc. Patri, guessing that Sandra was getting sick of all the sheer paranoia, jumped towards her straight away and grabbed her leg. She also stopped all her illusions, revealing that they weren't actually from Tabloid Town city watch. The talons on the other leg curled around Rikku.
((Note: Rikku, if you don't want to come along, consider that re-written as "Patri formed an illusion around Rikku to hide her body, and in the same instant made a second illusion that looked just like her. The talons on the leg she wasn't holding on to wrapped around the illusion." And everyone else, until Rikku is able to get back on and decide, be very careful about interacting with her.))
Then, Sandra started to take off into the air, and head out of the hole Celestial had made previously.
((Is it just me, or is big things going through Celestial-made holes going to become a recurring theme?))
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Post by Strife on Jan 18, 2010 7:46:39 GMT -5
((Spacefleet HQ))
"Cyclops? Oh, thank the One Who Teaches. All right, if this is our only means of communication, please keep the connection up and active until the satellite net can come back up. Tabloid Town Hospital is being destroyed. The Underdeep seems to be breaking loose from underneath it, that is probably the seismic activity you're noticing."
A flood of images pierced through the cellular structure of Cyclops. Fraze was sharing everything that happened with him, from the alliance with ex-Commander Strife, to the Underdeep's attack, to the destruction of Merpo's house and Tabloid Town's hospital. His entire gooey structure rippled and vibrated as he absorbed this new information.
After about five seconds, Fraze himself began talking again. Due to the fact that this was his mind speaking, the words came much more quickly than if he had spoken them.
"...Keep me updated, I'll be doing the same. Did you get all of that?" Fraze said as his last sentence.
"Affirmative, Commander. I will relay your orders to the rest of Headquarters. We should have teams assembled and on the surface within the hour."
Cyclops blinked several times, focusing his attention on Haggoth and two other Subcommanders nearby - one being the unnamed Subcommander that assisted Haggoth with disconnecting the network, and the other one that he had mockingly called Subcommander Obvious earlier.
"The Commander has declared a state of emergency on the surface. Tabloid Town is under attack by subterranian anomalies."
The eyes of Subcommander Obvious and Noname widened in shock. Haggoth simply huffed in frustration.
"It's always something," said Haggoth. "Did he issue any orders?"
"Yes," replied Cyclops. "We are to establish three landing parties immediately - one for peacekeeping and two for disaster relief. The diaster relief teams will focus their efforts on Tabloid Town's residential district and hospital, respectively. I presume you'll head the peacekeeping efforts, Subcommander Haggoth?"
"Peacekeeping... hah." Haggoth snorted. "You bet your cellulite keester that I will. I've been waiting for this all month."
"Ensure that your troops are properly equipped. Combat is a considerable likelihood."
"I'll inform the other subcommanders of the relief efforts and make a Fleetwide announcement," said Subcommander Obvious. "The rest of HQ needs to know about the Commander's orders."
"Acknowledged, Subcommander," said Cyclops. "There is one final request from Commander Fraze. He wishes for us to transport his skinsuit. It can be found in a glass on the dresser in his quarters."
"I'll take care of that," said Subcommander Noname. "I'll bring it with me and join Haggoth's landing party."
"Acknowledged. I would advise all three of you to report back here when your teams are established. I must provide everyone with more information regarding the Underdeep."
Haggoth raised his eyebrow. The Underdeep? He quickly shrugged it off, as he had a job to do.
The three Subcommanders gave a salute. A portion of Cyclops' slime raised itself in a similar salute. They then scrambled off into three separate directions.
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Post by Strife on Jan 18, 2010 7:49:25 GMT -5
((Sorry for the double post, but I felt the need to separate it from my HQ post, for a very good reason. I feel that we need something big to happen in order to tie all of us together, and I feel that it's time we started merging our separate side-plots in one major event. This isn't easy for me though... Matter of fact, I'm shaking nervously as I type this whole thing. ._.))
((WARNING: This post affects ALL LOCATIONS. I repeat, ALL LOCATIONS. If your character isn't near Tabloid Town's Hospital, you can simply scroll down to the location nearest your character, if you wish.))
((Tabloid Town Hospital))
The dragon mage's eyes briefly turned static as she assured him that she would not fight him, seeing as they were both messengers to the Underdeep. She then transformed into her dragon form and bursted through the wall of the hospital. Meanwhile, someone else approached Strife and asked him a question.
While all of this happened, Strife did not pay attention or respond - not only because he didn't want to, but because the Underdeep had such a tight grip on his psionic powers that he could not stop himself as he tore the hospital apart by its foundation.
The building shook with the violence of a high-magnitude earthquake, but Strife remained firmly in place, his head raises towards the sky. His palms were facing the ceiling, and his fingers were clenched as though he were holding some kind of invisible energy in them. The static in his eyes flickered wildly.
Slowly, but surely, the hospital's floor disintegrated underneath him, being replaced by raw earth and stone. A large, circular platform of stone appeared underneath him and began rising from the ground, punching itself through the ceilings of each floor as it went. So much smoke and debris filled the air that no normal human being could clearly see the destruction happening from inside the hospital.
The people outside could see the hospital's walls start to peel off and crash hard into the ground. Within a short amount of time, the whole building collapsed into a massive wreck, and in its place stood a tall pillar of stone that stretched slightly higher than the original height of the hospital.
Standing at the top of the pillar was Strife, who now looked down upon the group of characters standing outside. His arms were crossed, and his sword floated right beside him, the blade pointing towards the ground.
"Perhaps I should reintroduce myself," he said, loud enough for everyone in the area to hear him. "I am Strife, former Commander of Spacefleet, soon to be Commander of the world. Rather than explain to you how powerful i've become and how swiftly and easily I can destroy you, I will instead leave you with a simple ultimatum.
"If you stand by my side and work with me to cleanse this tainted landscape, you will be granted immunity. If you stand against me, I would advise you to leave this continent. Immediately.
"This planet is mine now."
Just as he finished his words, a black mist emerged from the wreckage of the hospital. A strange, black ooze creeped around the rubble, and it slowly transformed everything it touched into a raw stone that was as black as the night and cold to the touch.
Once most of the hospital's ruins had become petrified, the ooze slowly spread out in all directions. Each individual blade of grass it touched turned into solid black rock... and if the people in the surrounding area didn't run or accept Strife's proposal, they would eventually suffer the same fate.
((The waters near the coastline))
Patches of the ocean suddenly began to turn black. A mysterious ooze rose to the surface of the water, freezing the waves and slowly turning the top of the water into solid stone, like an oil spill trapped in time.
A pirate ship rested near the coastline, where the ooze slowly made its way towards land...
((Ruins of Mercenary HQ))
The former location of the Mercenaries' headquarters became fairly quiet, almost peaceful, after the sudden destruction of the building that once rested there. Pieces of wood and stone, along with wall segments and scorched pieces of furniture, were scattered around the ground haphazardly.
A strange, black liquid creeped along the ground nearby. It spread out, fingering its way up the sides of trees and transforming them into black stone statues. It wouldn't be long before the ruins of the base became statues as well.
((Ninja Dojo))
It was still noticeably dark in the area of the world where the Ninjas resided, although dawn was fast approaching them.
Something was about to go wrong, though. If anyone were to stare into the river that snaked its way around this region, they would notice how it suddenly and mysteriously turned pitch black in color and stopped flowing. Even stranger was the fact that this black water was now climbing out of the river bank and making its way towards land, transforming everything it touched into dark stone.
((Dunburrow))
Things had been fairly quiet in the kingdom of Dunburrow recently. Many of the knights had become occupied with either foreign relations or internal affairs, and for the most part, they kept to themselves and continued their daily routines as normal.
One of the farmers on the outskirts of the kingdom began scratching his head in confusion, watching as a strange black ooze moved across his field and covered his crops. He walked over to the field and placed his hand on one of the corn stalks. It no longer felt like the familiar vegetable he had grown for so many years, but instead felt like very cold stone, almost as if the corn has been transformed into a statue.
He tried taking his hand off the corn, but he couldn't. The ooze slowly made its way down his arm and up his legs and began to freeze his body in place. He panicked and struggled, but to no avail.
The last thing he could do before he was completely petrified was shout to his wife inside the nearby cottage to run. After that, the look of horror on his face was encased in stone.
((Brassport))
Outside the walls of the mysterious new city of Brassport, an even more mysterious liquid slowly climbed up the sides of the city's walls. The liquid painted the walls in a solid black color and made them feel like cold, hard stone instead of the steel that was used to construct them.
Soon enough, the ooze would start pouring into the city itself, petrifying anything... and anyone... that it came into contact with.
((Mage Manor))
The strange black ooze was now creeping its way out of every Underdeep opening on the continent, except for one location: Mage Manor.
Outside the manor itself, the grass, trees, and rivers became petrified, turning the landscape into a solid black wasteland. However, the ooze stopped just short of the Manor's walls. Some kind of magical force prevented it from penetrating the walls of the manor.
The residents inside Mage Manor appeared to be safe for the time being.
((I should mention real quick that the ooze does not kill anyone or anything. It will merely freeze them in place and make them unable to do anything until they RP themselves out of it. The ooze is going to be used as a restrictive element that will gradually shrink the number of safe locations on the continent, confining most of our actions to a smaller surface area.))
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Post by Draco on Jan 18, 2010 13:41:26 GMT -5
<<Hospital Ruins>>
Draco tosses some ceiling, floor, and what appeared to also be wall off and away from him. Coughing from the dirty air. Unsure how exactly he made it out alive from the hospital, "Must have been because I was close enough to him..." He looks up in time to hear the man, named Strife, proclaim himself Commander of the World. "Well... This doesn't look good..." That is also about the time he notices the mist... His eyes widen, and he sinks into the shadows. A small black puddle slithers around the broken down hospital.
Watching the mist turn everything to stone, he turns away from the hospital. Gil quickly runs to the PM and starts it up. "I suggest we get out of here! I don't want to know what that mist stuff does to a living person. Anyone who does not have a ways to getting away, get in!" The NNPC is all ready in the copilot seat, and Scar has been secured. A small black puddle slithers it's way into the PM, and reforms into Draco. Gil screams, "AH! It'S HERE!" And proceeds to hit Draco in the head with a wrench.
"Ouch..." Draco falls to the ground in the PM and rubs his head. "It's just me!"
Gil scratches his head, "Heh... Thought you were... Yeah... The PM is ready to roll once people load in." He begins to press some random buttons, unsure what they are exactly (it is the remains of a machine he barely knew how it worked after all). The radio switches on, but only static is heard. He tries to turn it off, but it refuses to turn off.
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Jan 18, 2010 16:29:54 GMT -5
On the way to the Ninja Dojo
Lupehunter did not know how long they were walking for, but when he saw the mist/ooze/whatever it was that was creeping up towards them, he knew that it wasn't a good sign and promptly muttered something under his breath before turning his attention towards the others.
"Um, guys, I suggest that we start to RUN," he shouted to them.
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Post by Celestial on Jan 18, 2010 17:03:46 GMT -5
((Above the ruins))
No matter how terrifying, there was no arguing that what the new messenger was doing was beautiful. The most elegant way of destruction, turning everything to stone. No wonder the Underdeep favoured him.
Celestial didn't seem to have any other job to do. She transformed again, figuring that nobody had heard her. Everyone was scrambling to get away and she knew where they should go: Mage Manor. The Underdeep enterance there was open but it was repelled by the forces of the Manor, constantly in balance with each other.
And you still have something to do for me
He's taken care of it, better than I ever could.
He is my hand. You are my mouth. What you see is a manifestation of his power magnified through me. You will release me and from there, I can take care of myself. Isn't that what you want? Freedom?
Alright. How do I do it?
I can only give you the information. You must figure out what to do.
The Underdeep hiding beneath the scales on her head reaches in, connecting with her mind. Celestial hovered still for a few minutes as the flood of information filled her head and began to stir the formulation of a plan.
Despite herself, the dragon grinned and swooped down. She opened her mouth and with the use of the organ normally reserved for creating shockwaves, let her voice boom across the entire town.
"Everyone! It is best if you go to Mage Manor! Make your own judgement call on whether to trust me or not- since I'm perfectly aware of what you must think of me right now- but believe me, with it's protection from the Underdeep it is the safest place now!" she called out to anybody who would listen and began her journey there herself, all the while watching the petrification spread across the land like a tsunami of perfect grey.
((The Dropship))
"Um, well, we're fine..." one of the technicians began responding when the pilot, Amneiger, burst through the door looking flusted. The Author grinned happily. The plot was moving!
Get us up now! Something bad is coming our way and we can't get caught on the ground!" he shouted at the technicians. Soon the dropship was flying up with its cargo of people. ~She was very tempted to say something snappy and appropriate but decided that the filters would kill her if she did. Instead she looked for the radio, to put some appropriately apocalyptic music on.
((Brassport))
"And how do we do that?Do you know where she is?" the girl asked him. Overlord shook his head and weewooed sadly.
No. I lost contact with her when she was posessed he replied. The conversation continued, with an explanation on what mystics were but Overlord did not hear it. His feathers stood on end as he felt something approaching the city, something which did not bring good news.
The Underdeep. Or at least, somebody puppeted around by it. One thing was for sure, this was dangerous and it wasn't Celestial.
If you have any craft that's capable of flying, I suggest you get on it now he said to the girl mentally, trying to keep his instincts from invading his mind.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2010 0:07:06 GMT -5
((If I get something wrong, please let me know. I'm not exactly in a fit state to compose much at the moment but I will likely be fine by this evening.))
Brassp- Do I really need to say it?
As soon as the two strangers entered Sarinon felt the shift from the melodious Star Dance to the discordant Dance of Death. The faults in the Star Dance made when stars missed their step in the ever-revolving celestial movements. She shivered at it’s touch and tugged gently on Sarn’s hand.
“I feel it too, dear one,” he murmured, putting his arm around her waist and hugging her to him, doing his best to reassure her. “They want Rikku …”
Sarn felt slightly ill and very weak, but that was as nothing to his sister who was physically shaking. The music of enchantment affected her far more than any other enchanter, even though she had no skill in wielding it. She slumped against him so he lowered her gently to the ground where she sat gratefully, trying to still the fear inside her.
“You want Rikku? You can’t have her. She is sick, but she’s also very dangerous, even if she is tied up. She needs the help of other mages and you are not equipped to deal with-“ his words were cut short when one of the “guards” morphed into a hideous clawed and winged creature and leaped upon Rikku. Sarn gave a great shout and threw himself on top of the Roc, wrapping arms, legs and wings around it and clinging tightly.
With all the strength he could muster, he wrenched backwards. His attempt to dislodge the giant bird from Rikku failed miserably. Before he flew too far from the Assembly Hall, Sarn looked back over his shoulder and called out.
“Lady Ro!” he shouted as panic again erupted. He hoped Ro would know what to do and that Sarinon would be alright. Sarn had already spent so much of his energy over the past few days and the fatigue was showing as his enchantments became weaker every time he sang.
”Well,” he thought to himself as he drew nearer to Rikku's captor, ”at least they’re not angry at me … yet …”
He sped after the captured mage, hoping that his lighter build would allow him to catch up to them.
Sarinon, back in the hall, was lost in her own world of torment. Something new had entered the Dance of Death … something that reeked of pure evil … of fear. She fell sideways onto the dusty floor as stabs of anguish assaulted her mind making her scream inside and out. She cried out once more before her instincts kicked in.
She tried to stop it. Some part of her knew it would be bad if she let her body do what it longed to do … but the instinct was too strong. She couldn’t fight both that and the music that was tormenting her. Slowly, her body began to change. It was smooth and fluid and the transformation took only a moment. When it was all over, a small red and silver fox lay panting on the floor, her eyes the exact same brilliant shade of purple as Sarinon’s.
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Post by Nasuella on Jan 19, 2010 0:12:36 GMT -5
We're near the end of the world, and I feeeeeeeelll... wait, what? (Near what was once a hospital)
For a while Nasue was kneeling, coughing, breathing heavily and clutching her chest with one hand. The glow in her eyes had ceased, so anyone looking would see that her eyes had remained more-or-less unchanged (they just became a bit bigger). Come to think of it, her fur colours and patterns had stayed the same as well - and her voice seemed to be back to what it had been before her one sentence in that very strange voice.
It was little while before the captain's words registered in the coati's mind. She quickly looked up, clearly spooked and nervous.
"Uh--"
And then the hospital collapsed. Nasue clutched her head almost immediately afterwards; her eyes began glowing a second later. Looking up at the pillar, she could see a large mass of black.
The same black she saw in the dragon.
Nasue's eyes went wide as she heard words spoken in a frightening voice, and then the black began to spread. Her mind was instantly made up.
"Live! I just want to live!" It was clear she was seconds away from panicking. "I'll come with you guys! I mean, that's why I joined, wasn't it! Maybe I'll help - but want to live! We should get out of here!"
It would've been a little easier to take her seriously if her voice didn't shift between normal and otherworldly every few words. But Nasue's rapid clambering onto her feet and on the Blarf made it clear that right now, she was just as desperate to get away from the incoming darkness as anyone else.
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Moonlight
Frequent Visitor
-insert something witty here-
Posts: 153
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Post by Moonlight on Jan 19, 2010 0:31:28 GMT -5
~Basically what's left of the hospital, yup~
Wil stepped back hurriedly as the hospital began to collapse on itself. What? Is this this something to do with that guy who ripped off the bars awhile back; he though to himself and tried to get out of the path of flying pieces of brick and stone. Oh, wait, something's happening...
The large guy stood on a pillar above the town(how'd that get there, again?), proclaiming arrogantly,
"Perhaps I should reintroduce myself," he said, loud enough for everyone in the area to hear him. "I am Strife, former Commander of Spacefleet, soon to be Commander of the world. Rather than explain to you how powerful i've become and how swiftly and easily I can destroy you, I will instead leave you with a simple ultimatum.
"If you stand by my side and work with me to cleanse this tainted landscape, you will be granted immunity. If you stand against me, I would advise you to leave this continent. Immediately.
"This planet is mine now."
"What?" Who do you think you are, deciding something like that yourself? he added silently, then noticed the mist.
It was more like think fog, and washed over the area like black clumps. It touched everything it passed, turning it a frozen jet stone black, like obsidian. The temperature seemed to drop several degrees, and now it felt freezing...
"I suggest we get out of here! I don't want to know what that mist stuff does to a living person. Anyone who does not have a ways to getting away, get in!"
He turned to Gil and decided that that would probably be the best option now. Besides, he didn't want to know what that stuff would do to a human, either. Wil slipped into the PM with the other three and waited for the others to hurry up.
Now what?
~Near hospital ruins~
Liyer strode down the street at a normal pace, not really in any hurry to see Rivanth again. Someone wasn't going to be a very happy mage when he wakes up; if he hasn't already, that is. Nah, he probably has.
Juverna(I shall call her Jun from now on unless the plot prevents me from doing so) paused and took a step back as a cloud of black dust swirled around their feet. "Um..."
"What is it?" he halted too, noticing the mist. "That's...not good. Looks like it's coming from the direction of the hospital. Come on, we have to hurry!" Liyer sped up his pace towards the darkening sky, not waiting to see if Jun had followed him or not.
Rivanth kneeled on the ground with his good leg, watching the choking fog and musing silently to himself. "Is that magic? No. He said he was from the spacefleet. But how? Something's different...Of course it is. Things have changed too much since I was gone. Stupid Underdeep!" he punched a piece of remaining wall, withdrawing in pain. "Idiot..."
"Rivanth."
He turned, becoming more furious. "Oh, so you've finally come back, have you? Running away and leaving me in the street, to be run over(oh, the dignity's goin' down the drain)..." Rivanth stopped and realized it wasn't Liyer who spoke. "Juverna?! How are you talking?"
"This," Liyer replied and held up the old book he was carrying, "Look, we probably need to get-"
"That book...Where did you find it?"
"At a bookstore. But we really need to focus on getting away from here. That mist...it doesn't seem good at all, obviously." Liyer finished.
Rivanth stood up and steadied himself on a pole. "I'm not leaving; that would be cowardice. Whoever that person is, I'm not giving in because of some dark colored dust."
"Are you crazy?! For all we know, it could be deadly!"
"I doubt anyone would make such a thing if it spreads so fast; everyone in the area would at least feel faint or sick if it was," Rivanth reasoned, holding onto the pole tightly and trying to discern the man behind all this amid the fog, "But if you're so scared, then hand me the book."
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Post by Jina on Jan 19, 2010 6:31:45 GMT -5
[glow=purple,2,300][shadow=brown,left,300]Outside Brassport[/shadow][/glow] The rock showing what was happening in the Assembly hall returned to just being a rock. However, it had shown a brief glimpse of Sandra as a Roc, so Halin and Corenu weren't too worried.
They noticed some sort of black oil ooze approaching them. Halin smiled. "It's the Underdeep. Things are going well, it seems."
The ooze spread out to avoid touching either Halin or Corenu, and closed back up on the other side.
"Let's get back to the hospital. Sandra and Patri will handle themselves."
Near the Dojo[/b][/i] "Um, guys, I suggest that we start to RUN,"
Owen had also noticed the approaching ooze. "Yeah, that stuff doesn't look good. We probably should get out pretty fast."
He stood up. "Come with me if you want to live. If you guys are coming, get on now. And are there any objections to going back where we came from?"
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Post by Rider on Jan 19, 2010 18:55:26 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Tabloid Town Hospital[/glow]
Holy fish on a pork sandwich!
The world behind shone, treacherous, black and lifeless. It crept like something alive but destroyed with an impersonal force that only ancient magic - the darkest depths of the planet itself - could be capable of.
Mage Manor... the dragon said they should go to Mage Manor... But as if on instinct, the Blarf was heading back to the ship. That was probably the safer bet anyway. The Mist would protect them. I mean sure, the Mist had been dormant for months upon months, but it would come back in the nick of time to save them, the way heroes did, right?
Rider threw a dagger at the obsidian and cursed as it clanked uselessly off the sheen before turning to stone itself. The two officers, in the middle of trying to arrest Gil for littering, became incredibly lifelike statues right before her eyes.
The Blarf plowed onwards towards the ship.
(Meanwhile, Shiva, also moving at the speed of plot, listened to Celestial and started booking it to Mage Manor, stopping only to pick up a stray along the way. Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?)
[glow=red,2,300]Brassport, which evidently has no walls[/glow]
Meanwhile, the stone flood flowed slowly but surely over Brassport's borders. Adeline ran into the Aerodome.
This was like something out of a fairy-tale. A nightmare. A story that her mother used to tell her when she was little. She clambered awkwardly into her ship, the Lunar Moth and fished a piece of charcoal out of the furnace. She scribbled "Rescue Vessel, Crew Needed" on a bedsheet and threw it over the side. Part of her was worried about wasting a good bedsheet. Part of her had come to a startling realization - bedsheets didn't matter anymore.
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