"I don't really care if it's searching or what it may or may not be searching for," Acubens answered Lacerta, "If we can't fight it, then I want us out as soon as possible."
Between Morpheus, Kiuchi, and the senshi on her back, Acubens thought that maybe they all stood a chance at getting through this alive. She still had enough magic to use her super attack once if she needed to, but she'd only be able to get the youngest senshi out. She'd have to rely on Lacerta and Kiuchi to get the others out if she had to make a break for it with Rana and the injured senshi.
"Alright," she agreed.
"Kiuchi and Morpheus, you take the lead. You can use more magic to form the distractions that you need to get us home. Lacerta, you're right behind them to bind whomever you need to protect us. Tegmine I want you close to me with Rana. And you," she jostled the senshi on her back lightly, "keep an eye on the rear. If anything comes at us from behind, bubble them."
This was not ideal, obviously. Tegmine's magic was not reliable and she was trying not to resent him for that, Rana was too frightened to even think about using hers, and Acubens was out of gas from getting the injured senshi. She didn't like relying on others but... she didn't really have a choice.
Lacerta asked about reasoning with the creature and Acubens shook her head.
"Look at it, Lacerta. It's in crisis. Nothing this panicked is going to respond to anything. Remember, we're not on a rescue mission. Whether that thing is sick or not, it's out of our paygrade. Our focus is getting home, and that's it."
And then the wind picked up, pushing her forward despite how she dug in her heels. And the closer she got to the crystal... the more she noticed it. She tried to ignore it but... how could she ignore such raw power. A thought, unbidden, rose in her mind. If they, that is her court, could take that crystal and heal it... make it work for them... something that powerful had the potential to work with the crystal above the citadel. It had the power to give them a whole world in which to live away from the war.
Suddenly Lacerta's suggestion to get close enough to reason with it seemed really good. If they were close enough to reason, they'd be close enough for Acubens to try and take the crystal.
Acubens shook her head, physically shaking off the idea like a bad dream.
"We need to get out of here," she ground out through her teeth.
Relegated to the back again. Even though Tegmine had volunteered to lead, he had been pushed aside again. Never mind he was the older brother. That didn't matter here. He'd been a senshi for less than a year as opposed to his sister's 11. And with his unreliable magic, he may as well have been an infant. He tried not to resent his sister, she was only looking out for him but... it was hard.
As the wind blew him and his sister closer to the monster, despite their best efforts to avoid it. It drove him closer to the monster.
Closer to the crystal.
If he could get that crystal... maybe Acubens would take him more seriously as a senshi. He didn't know what it did, but it felt important. If he could get to the creature, and rip it out of it's chest... maybe Acubens would see him as a fully grown man. Maybe his magic would stabalize.
Maybe...
Next to him, Aucbens hissed that they needed to get out of there, and he agreed. He pushed the obvious suicide mission out of his head and hiked Rana up on his back more securely.
"Kiuchi is right, Rana," he reassured, "You've gotta be brave. You may not want to attack anything, but if it comes down to it, you've gotta choose us over it, okay?" He heard a small whimper but she agreed.
All of the sudden she didn't feel strong. She'd been in scrapes before, and with Miss Acubens and Tegmine no less, but never one where there was no escape in sight. And her brother had said that he'd been in worse than this? She'd freak out about that later. Right now Acubens was giving orders and she wasn't included in them and somehow she felt terribly upset with that. All she wanted to do was be out but she also wanted to be part of getting them out and not just being a literal burden on Tegmine's literal back.
She hunkered down further, either in shame or in fear, and felt the wind whip around her. She felt Tegmine slide closer to that hurt but terrifying monster. Lacerta had wanted to reason with it, and Rana was about to agree when Acubens cut her off. And she ahd to admit, the older senshi had a point. There would be no reasoning with that thing.
Rana, be brave and be strong.
"Kiuchi is right, Rana," came Tegmine's voice through her mild panic. "You've gotta be brave. You may not want to attack anything, but if it comes down to it, you've gotta choose us over it, okay?"
Of course she would. Or at least... she thought that she would...
Wouldn't she?
She curled herself aroung Tegmine tighter and let out an irritatingly pathetic sound, but agreed. She'd choose them over the monster.
Lourdes' magic ran out and she shook her weapon like a water pistol to try and loosen some more out of the thing. As though that was how it worked. She cursed and looked back at the monster. The more she looked at it, the more she wanted out of wherever she was. She wanted to get the people attached to her out too.
Whent he civilian asked what they would do now, she was nearly drowned out by the sound of the wind storm around them. And honestly, Lourdes wasn't sure. The whole fight seemed to be reaching a fever pitch around them, and the tears were looking more and more familiar. Could they sneak out through one of them? Or was the only way out through the creature. Finally she turned to the civilian and said, "Hop on my back. I'm faster than you. We need to try and get between it's legs. Right?" She turned to the other knight for confirmation.
MiddyGlow
tatterpixie
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:32 am
Spei, Page of the Moon Spei looked at the other Knight, then at the huge monster. Sure enough, its legs were wide apart. "Right," he nodded in agreement. "The only way out is through its legs. It's so occupied with the gargoyle-looking things it might not notice us."
The driving need to save his city was nearly overpowering, but Spei realized he could only do it from the outside, from the city itself. "We have to get out of here regardless. We have to stop those things before they get out through the rifts and into the city."
Lovely grabbed for him in breathless relief. The wind was relentless, pushing them forward, jostling them against one another. Lovely had no desire to be separated again.
The usual questions could wait: What happened? Where have you been? Are you hurt? Ilian didn’t seem hurt, just streaked with tar in places, like Lovely. Lovely put his hands on him, reassuring himself, but there was no blood and no wounds, no tender spots that made Ilian wince or flinch away.
“I’m fine,” Lovely said of his own injuries, hoisting Kamacite’s robe further up his shoulders to cover them. “I’ve had worse. You’re the one always getting yourself into trouble.”
Then his hands went to Ilian’s face. Lovely kissed him while he had the chance, because he wanted to, needed to, heedless of the wind and the crackling energy and the swarming gargoyles and all that other nonsense. Either they’d die here, powerless to do anything, or the situation would work itself out somehow.
A jolt from behind cut the loving reunion short. Lovely turned just enough to level an impatient glare upon the unfamiliar agent in their presence. Without the benefit of sensing auras, it wasn’t as easy to determine rank, but by his unfamiliarity and lack of a proper weapon, Lovely assumed Lieutenant.
Lovely almost snapped an order at him, almost drew himself up, all arrogantly proud and authoritative, but the buffetting winds and another crack of energy quickly reminded him of his current state.
So he looked to Kamacite — expectant, willing him to do something.
Guine
Shiningamisgirl
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 3:33 pm
tatterpixie
Henny cocked her eyebrow "How are we going to do that and live?" She shook her head disbelieving the very idea. Then again this whole day was pretty crazy so why not run through a monster's legs to get back to the city. She shook her head "No way am I riding on your back." She said growling.
Mirzam did not like to think of herself as someone who had all that much care for Destiny City. It was her home, certainly, and she would prefer not to see it destroyed, but that was about it. She liked to think that she placed her own life higher than some sort of city-based ridiculous patriotism.
And really, she did.
But here, in the dark void that she had tumbled into, those two interests very neatly aligned. There was a great, hulking beast in front of her, and that great, hulking beast and all of the strange monsters that surrounded it seemed very, very interested in tearing through these holes in reality to the city. To a city that, while it wasn't hers--that would imply far more responsibility than she wanted to take--was certainly important to her. She had met Helena there. Grown into her power as an officer there. And as much as his betrayal still cut like knives, her brother was there, somewhere, and even if he had foolishly run off to the other side and she wanted to drag him back by his hair, she certainly didn't want him run down by some giant beast from beyond space.
And then, through one of the tears, she saw it--her bookshop. Arkham Letters. Her dream, the place that she had worked so hard to open, that she kept running and profitable even against the encroachments of chain stores and Amazon and every other shitty online retailer that wanted to grasp and tear at what she had worked to build.
She howled with rage, and launched herself into the fight. She was not going to let this monster or its lackeys destroy her home. The one that she had made, the one she'd brought Hattie into, the one they were going to keep building together.
She couldn't see Hattie--or Helena--anywhere, and any attempt to use her bracelet felt like moving against a wall made of static, so she stopped trying. That was fine. It would be far too easy if she could escape that way.
Electricity sizzled over her skin, but she ignored the sensation, reaching for her magic. She would stand and fight, even if other people looked mroe itnerested in just running, or surviving.
"Bedlam Riot," she snarled, gesturing at one of the strange creatures near her, and she watched it take effect on the monsters around her--sending them tearing into each other with more vigor than before. Some of them even darted off to attack the bigger monster; that, she hoped, would be enough to slow it down from tearing this entire between-space apart and ripping a way through into proper reality.
There were plenty of people here, in the darkness. And here, Mirzam didn't care if she was fighting next to someone in black or white. If that was a problem, then whoever gave a s**t could take that up with her when she got out. For now, she was just determined to make sure that all the humans in here escaped--and that the monsters didn't.
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 3:42 pm
Kaori_luv
Lacille shook her head "I don't know, but we might have to do something go fight the little ones? We shouldn't let them get that crystal. Maybe after that things will settle down." She suggested "We better get going we don't want to be trapped here and perhaps left to die." She shuttered at the thought. "We better get a move on before it's too late."
MiddyGlow
Sparkly Fairy
Offline
tatterpixie
Tipsy Codger
Online
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 4:04 pm
Spei, Page of the Moon "We're not leaving you behind," Spei said to the girl over the din of the howling wind and the monsters. "There's no way you can keep up with us running. Please, just get on her back. Or my back. We're strong enough to carry you." He didn't care about his injured arm; he'd do what he had to, even if it meant forcibly grabbing the girl and carrying her to safety himself.
Even so, safety wasn't guaranteed. They had to run the gauntlet first.
Sweenys_Revenge
MiddyGlow
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 4:05 pm
tatterpixie
Sweenys_Revenge
Henny sighed "Alright fine I'll go with you then." She was so not being carried by a ballerina. She grumbled that she could keep up with them running and she again wanted to have the power to take care of herself. She was so sick of playing the damsel in distress and she wanted to be able to rock her own powers.
Izanami nodded, sharply, when her sister pointed in the direction the monsters were going. She stuck close to Amaterasu, as the world tore apart around them, as more monsters swarmed, as tears opened towards Destiny City, and everything went absurdly wrong. It felt as if this strange space was finally coming apart completely--and whether that meant they would be dropped back home or dropped somewhere far worse seemed...thoroughly up in the air. But she knew one thing for certain, and that was that she intended to protect her sister form whatever came.
"We're going," she promised Amaterasu, voice soft and calm. Even if she wasn't nearly so cool inside, she needed to avoid showing it. Amaterasu didn't need to know that she was afraid. She had to be the brave older sister, steady and sure, and she intended to do her best.
They were blown, pushed, towards the monster, and Izanami would not have gone that way if she had a choice, but she clearly did not have a choice.
"Cremation Pyre!" She snapped off her magic again, aiming at the giant gargoyle creature. It needed to fall. That was clear enough to her. And fire thrummed at her fingertips, eager to destroy.
"Ama-chan, stick close. Don't let go of my hand." She was sure, determined, and ready. If anything bigger or nastier came for her, or for her sister, she would handle it. "We're going to get out of here, and we're going to go home."
Whatever cremating her past self had done, giving rest to the soul of the previous Izanami and connecting her with her world, it seemed that she was much, much more aligned with her abilities. And that meant t hat she could, reliably, protect herself and her sister.
Electricity thrummed in the air, and Reality tore itself apart around her. But she stood steady, and held Amaterasu's had tight, and squared her shoulders, ready for whatever this battle might bring.
There were Senshi and Knights present, from all corners of the galaxy, only he knew that wasn’t true. They were all from Earth — born on Earth, raised on Earth, awakened on Earth, bred to view Earth as a priority. Ymir didn’t care for Earth much, except that it seemed to be all that remained of a time long gone. He didn’t care much for anything. His people were dead. His world was in ruin. Everyone he’d ever known was gone.
Except the voice was familiar, and when Ymir looked up at the man pulling him away, he was stunned to see a familiar face.
Eld, he almost said, but he’d learned already the importance of keeping one’s identity a secret here, so he held his tongue at the last second.
But it was Eld. He looked older, maybe a little worn. The beard was new and concealed a good portion of his face, but his eyes were recognizeable.
Ymir would never forget his eyes.
“Surtur. What—” Ymir stumbled, knocked into Surtur by the wind. “What are you doing here? How—”
He would not give in to the spark of hope that threatened to flare inside — the thought that, if Surtur was truly here, if he was alive, and not some figment of Ymir’s imagination, maybe there were others he knew…
Cymophane laughed. Now wasn’t really the time for amusement, but Reidite was so funny, offering to carry him like Cymophane couldn’t get along just fine by himself, like he hadn’t been looking after himself for years now.
“You’re not going to carry me,” he said, patting Reidite’s shoulder consolingly.
Then they were being blown by the wind, carried closer to the giant monster.
There wasn’t much to laugh about at that point.
Cymophane lifted an arm to shield his face. Reidite’s dice weapon got blown back toward them. Cymophane caught it before it could take out his eye, passing it back to the Lieutenant. He put himself in front of Reidite, and, when they were in range, cast his strongest magic at the giant beast.
“This isn’t looking good,” he said, then had to knocked Reidite to the side to avoid a snarling gargoyle.
Quote:
Super Sailor Scout Attack:Leopard’s Slash Three long, black claws of energy grow between Cymophane’s fingers. Though he does not have to make contact with an enemy to cause damage, a swipe directed at them will result torn clothing and the sensation of lacerations to skin. The sensation of pain will last for 30 seconds and has a range of 10 feet. At player discretion, the character can take lasting damage such as moderate injuries that are deep enough to scar if desired. The magic can be used three times.
Oh! Vyn! Vyn was here, Aliez would be so happy! He was alive, he looked okay! Alive, and he had a plan, and this was much better than trying to deal with that giant thing all alone!
Maybe he even had a plan, because Andreiya did not want to be in charge of things right now. Grouping up was the smartest idea, he trusted the Vanguardians. He saw Nessaela and another small wave of relief flooded through him. And Tenoch, and Vaylin!
He was happy to run with Aliez, and he never once let go of his arm as they moved closer.
Shooting the monster was–well, it was the best idea they had, wasn’t it? Maybe it wouldn’t do enough on its own, but in numbers, maybe...
He just had to hope that it wasn’t going to notice them anymore than it did the others attacking it.
Well–maybe Aliez’s shield would have recharged by then and could protect them. He just had to stay close! And that was easy enough when he was still latched onto him.
Tenoch had taken aim, and Andreiya followed the same; he raised his blaster up and tried to fire in exactly the same area, just in case the repeated blasts might actually have some greater effect on it.
When he was close to the others, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you okay? If you can run, we should try to leave. I don't know what this is or what it wants."
...Or if it was even in the one wrong here. Who knew what Earth had done to it? He didn't want to get punished for their choices, though! He wanted to get out of here, alive, with the rest of them!
Andreiya intended to just keep firing at the beast as often as he could, and he planned to stay as close to the other Vanguardians as possible.
None of her own fabrics were long enough or might tear easily enough -- certainly the time needed to rip her "skirt" from where it connected to her bodice -- but his sashes, ornate as they were, might work. And now that he'd suggested it, it was fair play; she hadn't wanted to come off as if she was trying to strip him, before. It wasn't quite the time for that.
Aschera looked up, saw the monster bigger than anything she'd ever seen, and immediately looked back at him. Absolutely not! She was fine as she was, actually, she was great, she was dandy, even. Her biggest concern was absolutely this man's arm, and definitely nothing else. "..Give me a moment -- I'll jury-rig something with your sashes, just -- try to stand still, and if you scream, don't do it in my face."
Other people could fight the enormous reality-destroying monster, if they would. Ripping some of his sashes free, knotting them together, and tying his arm to his side -- that was within manageable range. That was within her wheelhouse, too, so all-in-all Aschera was benefiting here.
Sparrow Riley "Oh," Sparrow said, bordering on hysteric a little bit, "you're new to this s**t, aren't you, ******** right off," and thought very strongly about scrambling away. Not that ze did, because if nothing else whoever was right here (not that ze could really make the guy out) knew where ze was and would probably try not to step on zem. Chrysocolla wasn't likely to actively step on zem, mostly because she didn't seem like she cared that much, but she'd also gone sprinting off towards the monster until this guy had spoken up, so... not exactly a savior, no.
Corrupt Eternal Chrysocolla Chrysocolla didn't stop so much as she paused and tilted her head, not bothering to pivot or to look; she had him in the corner of her eye, she didn't care about seeing any more of him. (Her eyes were a smoky quartz, flat-affect in the shine, swallowing down that ruby-red of battle-cheer she'd had until he'd interrupted her.) "It's past that thing," she said, unbothered, "so it's okay if you follow me, but if you don't start running I'm leaving you behind."
So what if she was faster than him? Stronger? He'd figure out how to keep up. Everyone else was. If she was feeling nice, maybe she'd drag him out of harm's way once or twice.
Closer to the monster -- closer -- but by now she thought she was close enough. Close enough. People should be angry, right now. They should be frantic.
Good. She could work with that. Maybe this would give people a little boost.
"Chrysocolla's Prism," she said, and that glittering overlay of reality burst forth from where she had fingers touched to the gems of her collar, making the world around her feel manmade, off-kilter; it bloomed out from where she stood, forming a field of her own influence. She only waited for a few seconds to make sure it'd taken effect for real, just long enough for the effects to sink in on anyone in range or for someone to cross into it, and then she was off again.
Shiningamisgirl
Quote:
Chrysocolla is casting her Eternal magic! If you're right up in range of the monster, this is a fifteen-foot sphere with her original position at the center; it has no target cap and is likely to hit anyone nearby!
Chrysocolla's Prism: 15-foot sphere originating from initial casting position; everything within the sphere has a faint 'stained glass' appearance. Amplifies current emotions of targets to a fever pitch: someone who was already mad will be blindingly furious, etc. Leaving this magic after entering it will lessen the effects, but will not remove them. Lasts for 60 seconds.
Vaylin wanted so badly to charge at the monster, needed to fight it needed to kill it. There was something in her something primal that called for the monster's destruction but then she hear the others approaching. Vyn, Nessaela, Tenoch, Andreiya, and Aliez so many of her fellow members of the Vanguard were here.
Vyn was right they would get killed fighting the monster, if it was just her that would be one thing but she couldn't risk getting the others hurt or killed. With great effort she deactivated her dagger. "You're right we need to get out of here." She agreed.
The wind was brutal it was hard to stay up and see let alone get out. "We need to stick together." It was the only way they would make it out of here away from that monstrosity and all the little beasts that were swarming.
Maybe that was an unfair thought. It wasn't like he could be powered up during every moment of his life on the off unfortunately common chance that something like this would happen. They could have just as easily been at home when they were sucked through that rift portal and dumped on some tar-covered platform in a midst of monsters.
...It was just that they hadn't been at home, and Nataniel could have- and probably should have- been powered up, anyway.
They'd just left Mirrorspace. Nataniel had said that he would do his best to support Basyl in making "appropriate time" for Narcissus to investigate the bizarre Chaos realm and help his little dirt plot flourish into- Nataniel didn't know. A larger dirt plot floating in some interdimensional subspace, probably. He'd expected Rakovanite would be most suitable to this task in case some giant shadow wraith popped out of nowhere (as Narcissus said had happened before...), but Narcissus had claimed that Mirrorspace wouldn't tolerate him any more or less regardless of if he was powered up or down.
And Narcissus thought it would be "cute" for Nataniel to just go normally. There probably wasn't any danger in Mirrorspace, so it was probably fine, and Narcissus would get to feel like the strong, independent special one, who could carry his boyfriend around and use magic crystals to make things grow. Nataniel didn't mind letting him live out his unnecessary fantasy. Everything inside of Mirrorspace really had gone well enough.
It was just once they'd landed back on the grass in Destiny City that Nataniel felt like a stupid idiot; of course he should've been powered up.
They'd dropped through some Rift portal, and now Nataniel was useless, and Narcissus was useless, and Rakovanite could have at bare minimum provided something sharp to put between them and the snarling hordes of monsters flying about and attacking everything in sight.
He moved to notch himself closer to Narcissus' side because even if he wasn't smart enough to have acknowledged that he should be powered up, Nataniel at least wasn't dumb enough to think that he had any hope of evading dozens of flying monsters if they wanted to hurt him-
And it seemed like they wanted to hurt everything.
They snarled and dove for him and Narcissus and everyone else nearby, and Nataniel thought it was pretty ******** lucky that when one swooped for him, its heavy body only managed to throw him backward, talons goring into his shoulder. But his head was still attached to his body, and it felt like a distinct possibility that that may not have been the case. Still, before he'd even picked himself up from the tar, Nataniel slapped a hand roughly over the tear, gaze swiveling toward Narcissus as he seethed out an adamant, "It is fine."
There was no way Narcissus would think it was fine.
She'd decided she quite liked it here! She was less agreeable to Earth during the winter, but now that it was warm? The air felt like her world. Sunshiny, and maybe a little sticky with humidity, with a nice breeze. The scene was vastly different, but not unacceptable! Vasiliki had never so much missed the bustle of such activity around her, or of stranger's voices carried by the wind. She liked having friends again, of the beautiful splashes of green between the roads and building and in the park.
It was a strange planet, but Liriope had frequently hosted all manner of strange people, who paused at her oasis on their galactic travels. She was used to strangers who behaved differently than her people! So she had no problem acclimating to those around her.
She loved her friends, she loved wearing cute dresses, she loved walking in the sun, or running through the rain, or skipping down the beach! This world was so alive, and she gushed frequently to her closest friend Tarra about how deliriously happy she was to have a home here. Her new home...
It wasn't her world...
But her world was nothing, anymore. And there was no bringing back the people who were gone. Her world was only darkness and Chaos, a twisted labyrinth of brambles draining away beautiful oceans. No people, no animals, no wind, no rain. Only grey. She could not even bring herself to go back to her world just to look, for a moment, because what if she couldn't leave again...?
Vasiliki was happy here. She liked it here! And it seemed so much like nothing really terrible ever happened on Earth- So imagine her surprise when a void tore open in front of her face and promptly ripped her from Tarragon's side. She was plummeted down on terrain that didn't look like Earth. The ground was slick with sticky black goop, now covering her hands and knees and dress from where she'd landed. "T-Tarra..." She squeaked out softly, fingers searching for the other girl before her eyes could.
But when she finally managed to peel her aqua gaze away from the ground, Vasiliki looked up to see a tumultuous sky alight with some type of animal goring into each other. Ahead of her, there was a great giant, swatting at the flying lizards (she thought they were lizards) and people- other people!- who drew too close to it.
She didn't see Tarragon. She only saw this world that was not like Earth, and it felt for a staggering moment as if her world had been taken from her again.
Vasiliki screamed, eyes squeezing shut as she tucked forward against the ground, pressing her forehead to the tarry surface and curling her arms around her because she did not want to fight anymore monsters. She just wanted to be at home, with her friends and the sunshine and the grass underfoot.
Tarra was next to her in a matter of seconds, and though Vasi flinched initially at the touch, upon realizing who was next to her, she immediately bundled herself close to the other girl, effectively planting them in place as her arms came up to wrap around Tarra's shoulders.
