With his reaction time running just a moment too slow and the near-constant movements of the other teams fighting for his attention, Thackery began to question his ability to do this sort of thing on the battlefield. It was much easier to patch people up afterward, and even easier to protect them from being hurt in the first place, but...then again, nothing was supposed to be easy about this.
His bell kept at the ready, he watched as Jericho continued to thrash about, scanning the area around him for anyone that might...have...taken their shirt off and started walking towards the dragon?
He stared, eyes following the figure that was dwarfing himself in close proximity to Jericho, head slowly tilting to the side.
He had clearly missed this part of the briefing.
The expression that read I am so lost persisted through the reappearance of the nergal boil, who looked a bit worse for wear. And he'd noticed it in time! Focused on him, he raised the bell and let it ring.
This was strange. One of the little beings had actually run up to them and pressed themselves against them. Oddly enough, this made them want to curl up around the little creature.
And so they attempted to. But that big tail of theirs swept across the ground anyway as it made the moves to do so.
HP: 3 Target:NEXT THREE POSTERS Damage: 14 Current Modifier: -5 Infusion amount: 84
It looked like a good time to shoot the dragon again. So Terra took aim and shot. Unfortunately, as soon as she had hit the dragon got amorous and hit her. Again. "MADRE DE JACK!!" she bellowed as she was slammed back.
"Ow."
Name: Terra HP: 12/30 Ammo Remaining: 1/5 Amount Infused/Damage: 7 Infusion Total: 91
This was going well... Really well, like well enough to start worrying that something was going to happen soon because of how easy this was. And the feeling that things were going their way too much only amplified when Sharra reappeared and then one of the grapplers broke off to run at Jericho. And deposit his clothes on the way. "Errr...." Belladonna tried, not really sure what else to say. A congratulations to Sharra's return felt necessary, but the fact that the fey boil was just enveloped by the dragon kind of negated that wish. Instead the witch turned back to her group and shoved a hand onto her hip. "Martyrdom is a bit overrated, I think we ought to make sure his efforts don't classify him as such." Because look she had a lot of experience with martyrs thank you very much. With a turn back around she loaded her slingshot and only had time to let go of it before she got smacked with the dragon's tail. It hit far harder than the other times, enough to actually topple her over into the snow with a shout of pain. Ok. Now she promised to no longer bait the boss.
He really needed to find a better spot as he was knocked back again. Jericho's tail was almost as dangerous as his front, and Calder laid there a moment before heaving himself back up and aiming one last time.
Astra had a few moments of glee to herself when she realized that one of the grapplers was actually a fairy, just like herself. So there were more fae's in the school now! But then he went near the dragon and...touched him.
She had no idea why he wanted to do that (especially to a large and very scary dragon), but she saw another student needed some healing, so the fairy shook her bell at her.
Name: Astra HP: 50/50 Heals Left: 3/5 Heal Target: Terra
Jericho was... no. No, not yet. It wasn't time for that yet - Red had been very clear. They weren't to force dissipation until JOY hit a particular threshold. The plague doctor's eyes narrowed, and it turned. It was hard to get a reading off of the Insanity, but it sensed a fragility there, a weakness. Too close.
If Jericho was forced to dissipate at this stage, they might lose him.
Focus, focus, focus... It was too easy for her to let her mind wander in view of the dragon that was flailing and attacking everybody. This wasn't Jericho. This would never be Jericho. There was a part of her mind that it nagged at. 'This may never be 'your' Jericho ever again.'
Just as the Riley who came back wasn't 'her' Riley anymore. She took a deep breath and aimed carefully this time, forcing the thoughts to the back of her mind as she released the slingshot and sent a very-much-more-sure shot firing towards the dragon.
The dragon looked vaguely preoccupied by - oh dear Jack. Mort mrr'd in surprise at the first year's guts and could only hope the boil knew what he was doing. There was a gut impulse to rush in and yank him out, but he didn't like deviating from the plan - and he was almost out of ammo anyway.
Also the dragon gave a few of them quite a smacking, his ghoulfriend included. That wasn't cool.
Jamming as much Joy candy as he could, the zomboil shot out a larger bundle at them with a loud growl. "Down!" Jericho looked a little more solid thankfully, but . . . Some of them were starting to look a bit weary.
"You guys alright?" he posed in passing to Shehk, Bells, and Calder, noting that the kelpie had been one of the ones who had also taken a hit. Shehk seemed fine and also . . . not quite fine.
And Bells was, well, Bells.
Name: Mort HP: 37/50 Ammo Remaining: 1/5 Amount Infused/Damage: 14 Infusion Total: 123 is a magic number
By now the black corruption that spread from her jaws had solidified, the mass writhing and shifting across the dragon's misty gray scales. Slowly Red began to raise her head, the black substance now visibly moving by those well out of the way of danger. Red was silent as she concentrated on lifting the wiggling tar-like mass off of the dragon. The further she pulled, the more solid the dragon became.
In fact, those close to the dragon might begin to wonder at how well defined Jericho seemed to be.
Marosa might even wonder at how cold and solid the dragon was becoming, the smooth cooling mist becoming colder and rough beneath his hands.
Jericho would find that his movements became slower, not to mention the fact that something heavy on his back was attempting to tear him in two.
The OOC
Jericho can now only attack every six posts, starting from this one. RP posts count as well; just no attacking until six posts of some sort have passed.
Jericho also has a new toy fae. If your first dice is a 1 or 2, you hit Marosa instead.
More and more of that strange substance was being thrown at them. It wouldn't have really been noticed.. until the behemoth began to rip something right out of their form. Roaring out in pain, they thrashed some. And for a moment, their form went limp as if in exhaustion. Perhaps they were done fighting.
But then. As one thing was being taken away, another was filling the void. Anger was dying down. And instead, they felt...
Happy.
And so their tail began to wag.
A lot.
Much to the misfortune of those around them.
HP: 123 Target:NEXT THREE POSTERS Damage: 16 Current Modifier: -5 Infusion amount: 123
The behemoth continued to pull before she was suddenly stopped. She couldn't pull the wiggling, unknown black mass out further. If she tried, most likely she would take the grappling hooks with her. Red tilted her head to one side to stare at the grappling hooks embedded through her wings. A faint trail of fog leaked from where the grappling hooks had bit into her previously in their effort to reach the dragon. It was only through her that they were able to find substance in the dragon, to be forced to hook into something that wasn't there.
The behemoth raised her gaze, staring at the students. A loud rumbling growl accompanied the look as it shifted into a sharp glare.
Everything moved to quickly that it was difficult for Sophie to keep up at first. Students ran in without warning or orders and she mentally kicked them for being so reckless. Without order this would fail and they'd barely given Bells a chance to tell them what to do. She watched other medics move around her and chastised herself for her slightly slow reactions. Hey, she was a zombie. Weren't they slow? Shuffling and what not.
A student was on low health and she jumped around closer to them, ringing the bell at them. So focused on healing was she that she didn't notice the tail until it whomped into her and sent her spinning through the air. She landed with a great thud and had she needed to breathe, she'd be struggling. Oh yeah, that would hurt later. Still, she stood and readied herself, eyes scanning over the infusers and grapples alike. All in a day's work.
Name: Sophie Van Rotte HP: 14/30 Heals Left: 4/5 Heal Target: Calder Amount Healed: 16
Something isn't right. It's the feeling of a stranger standing too close behind you. It's the sensation of a chill snaking its way up your spine. It's the need to jump and glance to see if what you glimpsed in the corner of your eye actually existed.
But it's none of those things. It's in your mind. A whisper. It's a thought that belongs not to you, the voice sounding... Familiar. Angry. The words seem to bite at you, to make you want to step back.
The behemoth snarled, shuddering as Jericho's now-plainly-turning-into-a-giant-yet-still-flexible tail slammed into her. Her jaws opened involuntarily before they snapped down again, pulling at the mass that was now struggling and wiggling fiercely to leave her jaws.
A thick cloud of dark gray smoke rose from the professor where Jericho's tail had struck it. Cracks began to appear across her hide. These cracks seemed to slowly fill with a glow that left those who looked at them for too long with an uneasy feeling...
