Final: Red

[voidtreckermods]

Again time seems to blur, the waves of monsters seem endless, the light out of reach until suddenly they are there. At the light that until then had been on the horizon.

Four columns of white marble stretch upwards into the sky, connected by a marble floor. Inside, floating in the air there are birdcages. Each one is filled with light, a light that sometimes shifts, looking almost like a person. A flick of hair, a scaled tail. But for the most part the light is formless. There is music, a mournful tune that ebbs and wanes. Wordless, a melody that isn't quite there.

But it may be the voidtreckers are more distracted by the form in the centre of the marble. A huge creature, somewhat resembling a jellyfish floats. Tendrils reach out to brush over the birdcages, making the song go sharp and jagged, dimming the lights for a moment.

Inside the mass they will see another light, faint but pulsing, struggling. Behind the creature there is an empty plinth. The creature shifts, blue energy rippling across the tendrils as it seems to sense the voidtreckers.

A skittering behind them will let the void warriors know they have more company. Crabs behind them, this beast in front, it is time to fight.

Even if part way through they might get a little distracted

Comments

Giant jellyfish

[voidtreckermods]

(OOC: For this part please all reply in one single thread. Each round will be marked by an NPC tag and then each character may tag once before the next round begins. If you are late joining or miss a round don’t worry! Just tag into the most recent round and either assume your character was always there or got caught up with crabs!)

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo... had not made it to the light at the end of the tunnel unscathed. As well as a lovely set of gashes across his cheek there were more across his arms and chest, as well as a few marks left over from damn tentacles that had managed to grab ahold of him.

But he was still standing.

Out of breath, filthy and bloody, but he was standing. In his hands he still had his daggers, also covered in blood and ichor, though none of that was his own.

Before him was a jellyfish looking nightmare and, when he looked over his shoulder, behind them there were crabs. "Squishy and pinchy. Kinda hard to work out which is the lesser evil." He muttered half to himself. He heaved a sigh and straightened himself up, then turned back to jelly. That thing was going down.

[rieper]

Between firing precise shots at the columns and fending off crab monsters that too close, 47 couldn't resist taking aim at the giant jellyfish as well. If it's tendrils got too close to a fellow Voidtrecker or tried to reach out towards the light in the cages, the hitman took careful aim with his space rifle and blasted it with a burst shot to get it to back the hell off. He was taking no prisoners here, that was for certain.

[enthunder]

As usual, Lightning was splitting her attention between blasting magic towards the creature and sending melodic healing spells winging across to her teammates. They needed it, now.

This time, she only spared a moment to knock a tendril away from one of the columns before casting a series of Cure towards Duo. It wouldn't do anything for the exhaustion or pain fatigue, but it would at least close the cuts and soothe the stings, and help him move more freely.

[knifewithnoname]

She's half drowned, bashed up and very annoyed at anything to do with the sea and so she just grumbles a curse under her breath involving feeding crab eyes to cats and gets ready to fight. She darts underneath a tendril and slashes out at it, trying to knock it away from a nearby cage.

Duo Maxwell | OTA

[maxwellsdaemon]

The fighting felt like it was without end. He was running on pure rage and pain at this point. He was just so damn livid at the creatures stopping him from getting to where he needed to go.

He didn't have any magical abilities. He wasn't super strong or super fast, he didn't have much in the way of advantages here. But he had that stubborn drive. That rage borne 'fuck you' attitude that drove him forward despite the odds. He'd only stop when he was forced to. And there was only one force that could stop him. And that was Death finally coming for his ass.

But it seemed he'd escaped His clutches once more.

Between one blink and the next, what had seemed miles away was suddenly right there. The light was all around them and Duo... went down on one knee, breathing hard. For a precious few seconds he thought maybe they were out of danger.

Until he heard the singing.

He lifted his head to see the birdcages and the things within and knew without a shadow of doubt they needed to be let out. That song... It pulled at his heart. He felt tears prickling at the backs of his eyes. But he refused to cry. He added that sorrow to the anger and used to to help push himself to his feet again.

"Dammit... I'm not done yet!" he cried out at the creatures heading toward him.

[marriedanidiot]

"Duo, Duo! Be careful!" Nerdanel warns. "Oh, oh, it's hurting them... "

[maxwellsdaemon]

He was being as careful as he could with the whole world trying to kill them! But he really wanted to get at those tendrils...

Duo was on the move, stumbling forward to try and get at them. He went for the nearest birdcage to him and took a stance. He'd protect it. He couldn't protect all four but he would do his best here. "Not on my watch..." He growled and slashed at the tendrils as they came closer.

But then Duo had a better idea. Fighting the jelly wasn't going to do much good. The cages looked flimsy enough... He looked from Nerdanel to the cage and then smirked. "Keep that freak off me!" he called as he sprinted past the her and jumped at one of the columns and use it to spring him at one of the cages. He grabbed at the bottom of the cage, swinging it way more than he would have liked. It took him a half minute to scramble up using the cages bars to keep him steady.

Once he was as steady as he could be he went to work using his dagger to try and pry the door to the cage open.

[voidtreckernpcs]

The doors are not that difficult to open and the dagger does the job well. The door springs open and the light flows out flying around Duo like a whirlwind. The song it is singing has changed key, it is more hopeful, less screeching high notes.

It finishes it's twirling and bobs next to his shoulder.

[marriedanidiot]

Nerdanel takes a guard position behind him as Duo opens the door, wincing at the songs but determined not to let anything take him out.

47 | OTA -- Attack on the Columns

[rieper]

47 didn't know anything about magic or life energy or anything of that sort. It didn't really seem a realistic concept in his own world, more a controversy best left to theology. However, one thing he could grasp was the idea that light was energy and everything from biological matter to technology required energy to function.

And the creature before him was reaching out to four columns with trapped light sources and glowing in return so clearly there was a connection there. The hitman didn't need any other clue for what to do.

47 whipped out a blaster rifle from his bag and knocked it against his shoulder.

"We need to take out those columns!" he shouted above the din of battle and pulled the trigger after taking precise aim at one of the columns, near the birdcage in an attempt to break the energy free without causing a direct explosion by hitting the light itself. The first pull released a puff of steam and an angry hiss as the water logged rifle complained about being lugged underwater.

The second pull did not. The blaster fired an energy blast that landed directly on the column. That was satisfactory. 47 readied another shot without so much as blinking.

[voidtreckermods]

The blaster fire did indeed hit the column straight on, blasting a chunk of marble out that went skittering across the floor and leaving scorch marks. The column rocked, the floor shook for a moment.

And the lights in the birdcages screamed. It was still wordless and still in many ways melodic. A harmonic screech, high notes that rocked the columns even more.

[enthunder]

The lights' screams tore through Light as she glanced over at 47's work, and she looked between him and the scorched pillar. What... Oh. She shook her head like a dog trying to dry itself, her teeth aching from the shrill noise.

"Wait," she called, and began to make her way towards him with jumps and quick strikes to any crab in her way, "I think that hurt them!"

[rieper]

47's finger was a hair's breadth from squeezing the trigger enough to fire another shot whenever he heard Lightning's call. He eased off the trigger.

"Them?" he asked, his eyes not leaving the battlefield in front of him but he seemed to be processing her progress towards his side as well. 47 didn't understand what she meant. Sure, he heard the screaming noise, like horrid radio static out of a broken receiver, but that made it just background noise to him. He couldn't comprehend it.

He fired off a quick shot at an incoming tendril while he waited for Lighting to explain--or give him a new priority target.

[enthunder]

"The lights," she managed, as she landed beside him with a final flip over a falling crab. "Maybe... Maybe this is their temple. We need to take out the big guy. Stop it touching them, at least."

[marriedanidiot]

The song strikes deep, to one of the elves, and Nerdanel stops, closing her eyes, trying to hear it clearer. Oh, that Makalaure was still here...

"They're hurting." She whispers. "Oh, someone... the creature... it's hurting them."

OTA

[schrodingersghost]

After getting past the jellyfish, Danny flies over to the nearest birdcage and lands softly beside it. He takes a moment to peer at the light inside it. There was something just wrong about this. The light, the music, everything.

But there was no point in just watching. He grits his teeth as he forces himself into intangibility again, and steps through the bars into the cage and the light.

[voidtreckernpcs]

Despite being intangible he will feel the light fill the whole of him and for a moment it is all he can see, pure, bright light.

Then then is water, all around him. He is floating in an endless blue ocean. High above he can see the faintest reflections of light, rippling as it is refracted by waves.

Then he is in in the light again and he is screaming. No the light is screaming but the light is him and he is the light and he is trapped, frightened and in pain.

Help!

If he can find it in himself to concentrate he will be able to seperate himself, remember that he is Danny and not this light.

Or he might need some help.

[schrodingersghost]

It is the shock that reaches him first. The feeling of light and emotions and pain that isn't his, and yet it is. And it is so entangled with his own feelings of panic, of being caught and trapped within the pain, that he can't sort out what is the other and what is himself.

Danny opens his mouth and screams with his own voice (or was it the other?).

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo had just made his way on top of one of the cages, his little light buddy bobbing at his shoulder, when he heard the scream above the sound of fighting below. It was so loud because it was closer to him than they were.

He was on the move almost immediately, once he worked out the direction the scream had come from. Seemingly without a care in the world, Duo took a brief run and jumped from one cage top to another before he got to the one Danny was trapped inside of.

"Hold on, buddy!" Duo grabbed one of the bars and dropped himself down, dagger in hand, feet braced against the bottom of the cage, and easily jimmied the lock open. The door popped open easily and Duo shoved the dagger into his belt before he reached inside to make a grab for Danny to help get him out.

[schrodingersghost]

Danny is caught within the light, drowning in the other's fear and pain. Even now, he's not sure which one of them is screaming.

When the lock opens he stares at Duo without comprehension, before finally gaining enough sense of self to reach out with one gloved hand.

Ultimo | OTA and Closed prompts

[ultimate_angel]

[ On the Field - OTA ]

Ultimo's gauntlet takes on the form of a large, Crane-like blade as he slices away at crabs and tries to attack the large jellyfish in the center of it all.

"Millenium Cut!"

He slices continuously, strike after strike, and clearly taking blows of his own - clothes torn, covered in dirt and cuts. But he doesn't seem to be the slightest bit deterred; if anything, he's more determined for victory.

His gauntlet shifts into a large, metallic lion's head.

"Dance of the Lion!"

He charges forward, slamming towards multiple crabs at once.


[ Rite of Ownership - Closed to Duo ]

Ultimo has been spending a lot of his time battling. And if he's not battling, he's pulling others out of danger. He's doing his best, but he knows.

He knows without a Master, his power won't be the same. He could fall short every time. He isn't as strong as he is with Yamato.

But who? Who could he possibly rely on now?

And his answer emerges nearby - he sees Duo breaking a cage open to let the being out, and Ultimo's eyes widen.

Yes, that one. He's fighting no matter the setback for others. How wonderful. He knocks aside some monsters down in his way and flies over to Duo.

As he comes closer, he looks in the memories and senses what Duo is fighting for. So it is with a smile that Ultimo hovers a little above Duo.

"Duo Maxwell, it is a pleasure to meet you. Uru knows we have just met, but will you please be Uru's new Master?"

Rite of Ownership

[maxwellsdaemon]

It wasn't the first cage he'd opened and it wouldn't be the last now he knew they were easy to open. So long as the others kept the jelly tentacles off of him he was golden.

He'd just yanked open the door to free the light from inside when a voice called to him, and for a split second he honestly believed the light had spoken to him and he looked at it in shock. Until he noticed the guy beyond the orb.

"Uhh... come again?" He was hanging onto a cage with one hand, his knees braced against the bottom of the cage. It was not, he thought, the safest place to have a conversation. But it was his shock, and then a little amusement at the strangeness of the whole thing, that kept him hanging around. "Do I know you, buddy?"

[ultimate_angel]

"Become Uru's Master," he repeats with a smile, gently coming down to the ground.

"Uru is Ultimo. Uru saw you help these people, and it makes Uru happy."

With surprising grace, Ultimo takes off his shirt. He knows this time is short-but-precious. He has little time to explain everything.

"If Uru has a Master, Uru can be stronger, and Mr. Duo can, too. Together, Uru and Duo can fight for Good and help save everyone. All Mr. Duo has to do is take Uru's Pledge of Devotion, and we can fight as one."

It's a lot to take in at once, for sure. And it's almost minimal information. But he can fill in the blanks later. Right now, the Bond comes first.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Yep, there he goes again saying that same thing. And hearing it a second time was just as confusing as the first.

Duo let go of the cage. He wasn't nearly as graceful or gentle in landing as Ultimo was, he was exhausted and it was all he could do to lessen the impact of his landing so he didn't break his legs. He still went down to one knee though. And just in time to catch the guy damn well stripping in front of him! ... Well, mostly.

Was this really the time and place for this? Duo moved, getting in the way of the kid and a wayward tendril that would have slapped at him, but instead wrapped around Duo's arm. He winced and slashed at it with the dagger in his other hand. "Dammit..."

"Look... I don't get this... but, wait, what? Stronger?" He was all set to tell the guy as gently and kindly as he could to take a hike. But he was flagging. The anger and pain that had been driving him was starting to be overcome by sheer exhaustion and he had no idea how long he could hold on. There were still so many cages to be opened...

He looked back at the kid, shaking off the remains of the tendril from his arm.

"... What do I have to do?"