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 Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:42 am
A few weeks after the previous RP:
A light drizzle sprinkled over Destiny City that night, a welcome reprieve from the spring heat rolling through the concrete jungle. Thunderclouds soared well overhead, not yet ready to unleash their fury. For now, things were calm and quiet, if a bit damp. The night was cool, lacking the sticky humidity of summertime.
A beautiful lake used for swimming and fishing, surrounded by a sprawling public park, had been closed down for two days due to unexplained disappearances. Police had been called and rumors were spreading - could it be a serial killer on the loose? A kidnapper? Four people had gone missing in the last three days - one woman, one man and two middle-school-aged children. All were unrelated by blood and disappeared in what seemed to be unconnected instances.
The rain drove the investigators away, leaving them with little hope that the rain wouldn’t wash away any evidence of a kidnapper. All they could do was wait.
Closing down the park meant it simply had to work harder to lure in the more satisfying prey - the ones with power and light in their souls. Normal humans were but an appetizer.
Deep beneath the surface of the lake lurked a dangerous youma - an octopus in shape with the size of a small sedan. Nine tentacles matched with eight eyes, its skin was a mottled, deep wine color. Two eyes were the largest of the set, bulbous and inky black. One tentacle was smaller and much, much longer than the other eight, this one being the lure itself. At the tapered end of the tentacle glowed a very small light from which pulsed a very specialized form of enticement, perfect for the prey it was stalking.
Lifting the lure just above the surface of the water, resting near the very edge of the grass bordering the lake on all sides, the lure’s light could easily be mistaken for a firefly. But when the youma willed it so, the lure began to works its magic.
“Mommy? Mommy, where are you? I’m scared, Mommy! Where are you?!” came a childlike cry, emanating from the glowing tip of the lure. Lying in wait, the youma spread its remaining eight tentacles to cover a wide berth around the lure. The creature stilled its movements, waiting for the desired prey to come within range of a tactical strike.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:50 am
The dampness in the city’s air and the dreariness of the night sky seemed so fitting to Manu’s mood this evening. It was the first night of the end of his life, as he saw it. Of course, he was being dramatic, but his chest still ached as he thought more and more about how at the end of his patrol, he would return home to an empty house. But… He supposed that was to be expected, what with his sister moving in officially with her new husband. And it made life a little easier, since his sister didn’t constantly ask him where he had gone out to at night.
But he loved her and her kids so deeply that with them gone, it felt like was missing a limb, an extension of himself that just suddenly vanished overnight. To combat such feelings, he stayed out on patrol much longer than he normally would. Through the field near his house, across the train tracks, through the urban jungle and finally to the massive park right near the east side of the city.
It was there that he knew the youma roamed… It was there where he first met Bazzite and oddly enough, he wanted to see him right now. Manu certainly had some worry in his heart for the bug-like youma. Something so pitiful didn’t deserve to be out in the rain alone… No one did, honestly. And even with how dreary it was, there was something almost serene about the soft pittering of rain on the pavement. The cold chill that seemed to seep into his bones and easily distracted Manu’s troubled mind.
At Least that had been the cause until he heard a small voice calling out of the darkness. It sounded so frightened...So small… Immediately Manu was drawn to it, unable to ignore the pleading sound of it’s tiny voice.
“Stay where you are, I’ll come find you, I’ll help you find your mother!” He called out, his own voice much stronger against the night air than that of the seemingly lost child. It led him to the edge of a lake, the water making it’s own small song with the rain dripping down onto it. As dark as it was, it wasn’t that hard to find the single light against its shores, and Manu came up upon it fast, only to stop in confusion… There was a voice… And a small light… But no child.
“Hello…?” He called out once again, thinking that maybe it was his own exhaustion that was making him hear things… Or maybe the child just managed to wander away a bit further than anticipated. “I’m here to help!”
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:59 am
Bazzite was roaming nearby, at the far edge of the park. Under the magical spell of the necklace, he found himself oddly at peace in the rain. Its smell, the dampness of the earth beneath his feet and claws, the sensation of rain on his skin. It wasn’t something he could appreciate while the psychological fog that came naturally to youma had gripped his mind.
Even though his wings were useless otherwise, they were doubly so when wet. The pollen his body could generate would be less effective in the rain, but it didn’t matter much.
Under the canopy of several oak trees, the youma sat on his haunches, simply watches the leaves move with the cool breeze. He was summoned topside by another General, one not his own, and had fulfilled his duty of shock troop while infiltrating a drug den in the seedier portions of the city. It was all for several starseeds, money and drugs to sell. The General profited greatly and dismissed Bazzite after his services were no longer needed. Wandering outside, Bazzite caught a fleeting glimpse of a small family running for their car in the rain.
Something had prompted the necklace, but the youma was still unsure of the mechanism.
~~~~
“Mommy? I… I’m scared…”
Just beneath the surface, the octopus creature waited patiently. Through the undulating surface of the lake, it could see the vague shape of a powered individual. It could sense him growing ever closer to the lure, ever closer to the edge of the water where the tentacles roiled in anticipation. Just one more step… one more step closer…
Once an ankle was within range, the youma struck.
Bursting through the surface of the water, the youma remained silent as three of its tentacles sought to coil around Manu’s ankle and legs. It sought to drag him back beneath the surface so it could pry open his ribcage like a walnut and steal the delicious soul deep inside. Its relative silence was probably what allowed the youma to snatch four victims without them alerting someone nearby - snatching the body, coiling its tentacles around the mouth shocked and silenced the intended prey.
But Manu would be exceptionally delicious, more so than any of its previous meals.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:00 am
“Where are you….” Manu murmured to himself, searching around desperately for the source of that child’s voice… He had to help him. Gods knew if it were his own kids who were missing, he would fight tooth and nail to get them back. His search took him all the way right up to the shore, and the light there had his attention… And yet there wasn’t anything there… And.. And was that voice coming from that light?
Of all the things Manu had expected, tentacles about his ankle were the furthest thing from his mind. It latched onto him tight, suckers holding fast to his leg and he yelped, summoning his spade to his hand in an attempt to fight it off. The tentacle only crawled up higher and higher, wrapping around tight to his calf, his knee, his thigh, and then forced him to the ground, dragging him bit by bit closer into the black depths of the lake.
A memory came crashing down on him, one of a small child with tentacles wrapped around his throat and a large splash off the side of a pier. It was that memory that near caused his body to freeze up in panic as Manu’s body drew closer and close to the water. And it was from that fear that a terrified scream came from his throat. Words were entirely lost on him as he tried to dig his spade into the tentacle that held him, but more and more shot up from the water, entwining itself with his other limbs until he could do nothing more than squirm against their grasp.
This was it, this was the end, but even that thought didn’t seem to make sense to him, for all he felt was fear and pain that came from his aching arms and legs.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:05 am
Ears pricked at the sudden sound of gushing water. For a night as quiet and serene as this one, someone swimming in the nearby lake seemed very odd. In fact, it sounded more like a cannonball from a great distance. Something very large displaced a vast amount of water…
Bazzite squinted, sensing…
...a youma and someone of very low magical rank. Not a Chaos signature…
The locust-beast decided to satiate his curiosity and investigate before the necklace wore off and he went hunting again. That is when he heard the scream.
At the edge of the lake, a Page was covered in tentacles, the bulbous, undulating head of the octopus youma breaching the surface of the water. It was huge - the size of a small car - with a mouth on its undercarriage. The teeth chittered and clicked as soon as it was raised enough out of the water. Mottled wine-colored skin shone in the hazy moonlight, eyes black as pitch trained on the Page who would make a most excellent meal.
A roar was issued from somewhere in the treeline and a blue shape had dashed from the shore to ram itself into the head of the octopus. Clawed hands dug deep into the squishy flesh, the octopus youma unleashing its first hideous, human-like shriek. Several tentacles let go of their grip on Manu, focusing instead on removing the pest attached to its head.
A battle of bloody proportions took place, shrieking and screaming following crushing tentacles and holes clawed in tender flesh. Each youma bled into the other, sticky black and oily blood covering to the two of them. Steadily, fewer and fewer tentacles were wrapped about Manu as the octopus creature needed several to steady itself in the water. Too much displaced weight caused the bulbous head to lean into the sea.
Lakewater sprayed this way and that, black blood whipping through the air as tentacles tore three insectoid wings from the blue creature’s back. Bazzite howled in response, watching as his crumpled, fragile wings disappeared beneath the water to be devoured by the octopus. He was being torn apart, piece by piece.
Left leg crushed, Bazzite knew his time was limited and sunk his teeth into the fleshy head of the octopus, seeking its brain. For a time, the octopus’ assault did not let up, both youma roaring and bleeding in a din of violence. Soon, however, the powder from Bazzite’s devoured wings began to work their magic, seeping pollen into the octopus’ bloodstream to paralyze it from within. With the last of its strength, four tentacles wrapped around Bazzite’s slender form and hurled him through the trees with a loud CRASH!
A death groan escaped the sea creature as it began to sink beneath the waves, bloodied and torn.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:07 am
For a time longer than he would have ever wanted to admit, Manu was frozen in place. Limbs, though freed, would not move on their own and his breaths were large gasps and wheezes as fear took a sharp hold of his mind and heart. Sheer terror crawled on every inch of his skin, and he could feel large, wet tears forming in his eyes and falling to the sides of his face.
It wasn’t until he could feel all the tentacles finally give against his legs that any sort of sense returned to him and he stood on shaky legs to watch the battle that continued in the air and water.
Yet still, he could not move at all. Over and over the two youma clashed, blood sloshing everywhere, and limbs falling one by one into the water. And so desperately Manu wished to help, but he knew for certain he would be nothing but in the way were he to step anywhere near the fight.
The moment Manu saw Bazzite’s body fly into the trees, he regained control and made a mad dash to him, cursing all heavens and hells for his weakness. Bazzite was nothing more than a fragment of himself by the time Manu was at his side, pulling the mortally battered youma into his arms and holding him tightly against his knees. In no time at all the black, oily blood seeped into his uniform and across his hands, but he didn’t care… Not when he was stuck like this.
“Bazzite… Dammit, Bazzite, say something, please!” The knight cried out, feeling those fat and heavy tears well up again and spill down his face, disappearing into his beard. “Please, tell me you’re alright! Dammit, is there anything I can do?!”
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:12 am
Mortally wounded, Bazzite could hardly make out the form of Manu somewhere above him. His left leg was bent at an unnatural angle (even for him), his wings were torn from his body. Both arms were crushed and one was nearly torn from his torso entirely. Black, oily blood seeped from almost every orifice and his body smelled of wet earth and stagnant water.
Breathing heavily labored, the youma knew his time was nigh.
“....nothing… you can… do…”
Even speaking was a great labor, something that required several ragged breaths between each syllable. The sapphire light that made his eyes so distinctive was fading quickly. “...why waste… time… crying over… a monster?”
Manu was a strange Page with a soft heart that would be easily exploited by the Negaverse. The only reason Bazzite had even showed up to save him was that necklace… Somehow it had survived the skirmish with the octopus, wet and limp against his chest. Bazzite couldn’t feel his arms enough to move and touch the necklace. He barely had the strength to hold his eyes open enough to focus on the hazy form of Manu.
The light was fading...
Bazzite breathed his last, ragged breath. The air hitched in his throat and was released with a soft sigh, the youma’s form in Manu’s hands beginning to slowly disintegrate. His skin faded to a dull gray and became dry as a desert to the touch. The body, devoid of life, crumbled to dust at the slightest caress of the rain or the wind. Lying in the destruction the path of his body had caused, there was nothing left of Bazzite, save for the stains marring Manu’s clothes.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:13 am
“You’re not… You’re not I know you’re not…” Manu could only watch helplessly as Bazzite’s own light began to fade away, the injuries sustained in the fight too great to keep him alive. And though he knew that the other wasn’t going to actually die, that knowledge didn’t reach his thoughts at all. No, all he could think and feel and see right now was the poor creature in his arms.
“Please… You can’t… You can’t just leave like this, Bazzite!!” Desperately he pressed his forehead to that of the youma, feeling his tears fall and wet the other’s cheeks as his soft cries turned into full on sobbing. It was far too late as the very skin against his hands began to crumble to dust, as if there wasn’t any blood or liquid or anything having been inside of him before. Then suddenly, he was gone, only the dark splatter of black youma blood staining his clothing.
Manu’s hands opened and closed repeatedly as if he was trying to hold onto what little was left of Bazzite, hoping, praying that the other wasn’t really gone. In the end, there was nothing.
Some time passed until he managed to get himself to move, tear streaks evident on his face… And he slowly made his way home, not to leave it again for a long while.
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