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

[aggressivelygood]

The cries of the lights were horrible. Sven felt his anxiety spike every time their song distorted with their pain. But Duo and 47 seemed to be doing good work with setting them free, so Sven focused on their attack. How much longer he could keep making arrows? Sven took another piece of his own burning life force and stretched it into a shimmering, molten projectile. With every shot he took, the fire blazing inside of him grew smaller. The jellyfish can try and cover itself, but Sven's aim is true with the Petals of Nil guiding his eyes and hand, his arrows narrow and faster than such long limbs can react to.

No, he has to keep fighting. Seeing Xue Yang and the young, knifed girl whose name Sven doesn't know rounding on the beast's underside galvanises him. Despite the muscles in his legs flaring with a completely different kind of burning sensation he keeps on running, dashing in different directions between shots as he tries to whittle down the thing's health and distract its tendrils from the others.

[burntlikethesun]

Rose was still in one piece, if a bit worse for the wear than when she’d started on this little adventure. She was still pulling shark teeth out of her arm by the time they reached the light that had been on the horizon. The discordant sounds brought on by the beings’ (spirits’?) pain grated on her nerves, but it was the usual mournful song that reminded her of things she’d rather not think about. It made it difficult to focus, but she shook it off; they had more important things to do.

The release of the captives seemed to be well in hand, even though rifle fire was an unorthodox but strangely effective method. The enormous jellyfish was proving to be the most trouble. If they could get a clear shot of the body, they might be able to end this. She decided that the best way to help was by adding another angle of attack and stealing even more of the jellyfish’s attention. She circled around the perimeter of the fight, stabbing the occasional crab that crossed her path, and found an empty spot out of tentacle’s reach to base herself. She darted in close, targeting the tendrils with her spear and trying to draw them away from defending the body.

[voidtreckernpcs]

The background song is growing more and more hopeful with every light that is released and as more of the lights start zipping around the fighters they will find their own attacks strengthened. Both Duo and 47 are practically glowing with the lights.

More goo is released in a wave as Xue Yang's sword drags its way down the body, the arrows thunk into it and it writhes again, tentacles once more lashing out, cracking with purple energy blasting out at Sven, Xue Yang and the girl.

One tendril lashed out at Lightning, towards her legs in an attempt to knock her off balance. More tendrils flashed towards Rose, trying to parry her spear, tendrils curling around it to fend off her attacks.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo is loving his little Light Buddies, though they got in the way a bit flying around him like they did. But it wasn't stopping him. In that it was energising him. The more he freed the happier they sounded. The happier they were the more Duo wanted to get the others free before the jelly sucked them dry. He couldn't stand hearing their screams of pain.

So he launched himself at another cage, near missing, but it was his Light Buddies encouraging songs that helped give him the boost he needed to pull himself up and free yet another of their friends.

[aggressivelygood]

That dastardly energy came at him again and Sven dodged, feeling the air crackle at his back as he rolled out of its path. His momentum found him back on his feet in moments. He kept moving--as he ran, he strained against the blockade between him and the Petals of Nil. The wings of the bow creaked with an uncharacteristic stiffness and folded back in on themselves to take the form of a black sword.

Fire alighted from the top of the hilt and sprung up in a spiral along the polished wooden blade. Adrenaline pushed him forward and he dashed before Light, sweeping low with his blade and intercepting the tendril coming for her legs. The blade may look like wood but it cuts as well as any steel, slashing the tendril and sending embers spitting and steam coiling through the air.

"Not a chance!"

[schrodingersghost]

Danny had left the fight briefly, just long enough to make an attempt at freeing one of the lights that ended with him having a very good idea of what they had been feeling in there. (Which he was not, could not think about right now.)

Now, he was angry.

And also running on fumes, but mostly angry.

Rising up above the birdcages, he circles around the battlefield, building up speed and surging all the power he had left into his fists.

And then he charges directly at the jellyfish, planning on slamming a massive ball of ghost ice into it at a stupidly high speed.

[enthunder]

Lightning's realising that she's badly misjudged how this world would affect her magic; her vision is greying at the edges and her limbs have started to grow cold, crystal creeping along her fingertips as she stubbornly continues to throw out healing wave after wave. Her healing was never as powerful as Vanille or Hope's, so all she can do is make up for it in quantity.

She grits her teeth into a snarl at the incoming tendril. If she dodges, the spells end, and she's not sure if she'll be upright for another round. If she dodges, Tobias takes the hit instead of her, and the gunfire and increasing number of lights spinning around them tells her that's not acceptable. But none of them are doing this alone, and her faith is rewarded when Sven cuts in, despite looking just as bad as she feels.

Everyone's doing their best.

She braces, and keeps going.

[voidtreckernpcs]

More lights sprung free, the song was reaching some kind of fever pitch now as they flew around.

The ice blast hit the jelly along with the fire from the sword sending it reeling backwards, more goo oozing from it as is whipped out tendrils again, trying to grab limbs and weapons and fling them aside into the marble columns.

It seems smaller than before though, as goo continues to ooze out of the cuts.

[aggressivelygood]

Again, Sven slashed out, dragging his flaming blade through the tendril that makes an ill-advised grab for the Petals of Nil. The muscles in his arm protested. He's running out of magic, running out of energy to keep fighting even as the end of the battle twinkles in sight. He sees the creature's desperation growing as the reality of its possible extermination dawns on its presumably primal mind. He sees Light and 47 hunkered down behind him. Light is the only one who can keep them standing through to the end. He might not have gotten up again without her healing assistance, and as that monster grew more violent in what Sven could only assume were its death throes, they'd need her if they were all going to pull through.

Growling and sweating with exertion, Sven pushed his power into the Petals of Nil. He splashed gracelessly down on one knee as the glow inside of him dimmed, the weapon expanding into a huge shield with a wide, flared top and broad sides that taper into a shallow point. It was a good few inches taller than Sven. Flames flickered along the engravings in the charred black wood, and steam rose with a hiss when Sven rested the burning base atop the surface of the water. He hunkered before Light and 47, holding the shield at an angle above them. It was much lighter than a solid wooden shield its size had any right to be--though still heavier than Sven was used to, thanks to that damn block keeping the Petals of Nil from freely channelling his power. He whispered a prayer in the ancient language of the gods, keeping his screaming muscles alert and ready to slam the shield back against anything that tried to intercept it.

[schrodingersghost]

After throwing everything into that last attack, Danny didn't have the energy or focus left to be able to force himself into intangibility one more time. One of the tendrils hits him. Hard.

He slams into one of the marble columns and slides down to the ground. And a ring of light passes over him as he loses his grasp on his ghost form, leaving him lying there as a human.

[maxwellsdaemon]

Duo had done as much as he thought he could. There were a few more cages but he knew he would have to let someone else get to those, his legs just wouldn't jump for him anymore. So he called down to Nerdanel who was waiting below and let himself fall. True to her word she caught him and Duo had to grin...

Until he caught sight of Danny flying past to slam into a pillar.

He broke free of Nerdanel and stumbled his way over to him and crouched down to check his pulse... And then near burst out laughing. He quickly pushed down on that before it turned into something else. "Alright, Casper, lets get you outta here." He grabbed Danny under his arms and started tugging him away and to the side, as far away from the flailing tendrils as he could get. Then he stayed there, swaying on his feet, daggers in hand. The creature was nearing the end, it was clear... All he had to do was keep this one safe and soon it would be over.

[rieper]

47 knew an opportunity to take out a weakened enemy when he saw one. The problem was getting an actual bead on his opponent with Sven out in front. The shield was fantastic for doing it's job against attacks but it was rather large from 47's point of view.

The hitman swiveled to blast a crab out of his way as he sidestepped past Lightning to Sven's side and then pivoted back around to face the jellyfish. He knelt down below the shield and, careful not to touch his cover for once, peered out from around it.

The assassin took careful aim and shot a burst of gunfire at the jellyfish. His intended shot: the main body, blasting through one of its open wounds, trying to get the blaster bolt to penetrate as deep as possible.

[burntlikethesun]

Rose managed to twist her body enough to receive only a glancing blow from the column, but the hard landing still managed to crack something and knock the breath out of her. She got to her feet slowly and checked on the others. The jellyfish had managed to push them back on the defensive and that just wouldn’t do.

All her bits seemed to be in working order and even though it hurt to breathe, she was used to working through pain. She’d lost her spear when she’d been sent flying, though. She considered one of the numerous crab corpses littering the floor with an appraising eye. She knew from personal experience that its claws were both strong and sharp. She could work with that. She stepped on a pincer, grabbing a single claw and separating it with a crunch.

Newly armed, she watched her teammate take aim. Attacks on the main body had proven to be most effective, but not if the tentacles were still able to block. She charted a path that wouldn’t get her caught in the crossfire and headed back into the fray, stabbing at tendrils with her makeshift dagger.

[xue_yang]

Xue Yang was slowly losing steam. He's done nothing but fight since arriving in this world and his arms are about exhausted from swinging the sword. But he knew the monster was in it's last efforts and so he was determined to enjoy one last hit on the thing that had gotten him thoroughly soaked in whatever the hell this goo was. He lunged, sliding along the slick ground to get directly beneath the body, staying as flat as possible to avoid all those swinging tendrils. As he reached the base of the beast, he intended to leap up into it and slice the thing to pieces from the inside out. He sucked in a breath and leaped, sword extended, leaving all caution to the wind. If he was going down, he was taking his jerk with him.

[knifewithnoname]

She is exhausted, covered in goo and hurts everywhere but she isn't going to stop. Even as she is blasted once again and slammed into a pillar. She lies still long enough to let some of the healing take hold and then rushes forwards again slashing out at tendril, trying to get to the main body to stab it again.

She clings desperately to the emptiness, knowing it's the only thing keeping her up. Jellyfish are the most stupid thing she has ever fought.

[voidtreckernpcs]

As Xue Yang lept up into the jelly fish dark purple energy crackled within it, reaching upwards and outwards down every tendril blasting out towards all of those fighting.

The song reaches fever pitch and as the dark energy flies out to strike the voidtreckers the lights shine ever so brightly, covering the whole area with an almost blinding glow, shielding the fighters.

Dark energy hits blinding light, the song stops as does the crackling, as if one has absorbed the other leaving a silence that is almost deafening.

The light inside the jellyfish moves for the first time, expanding to envelope Xue Yang as he makes his attack.

The attack from the inside along with the attacks from Rose, 47 and the others blasting it from outside hit the jellyfish solidly. It quivers and then explodes. Goo splatters everywhere raining down on the fighters.

The lights rejoice, their song returning. This time it is one of pure joy.

[maxwellsdaemon]

The jelly started to do something new, energy crackled, dark and dangerous and flashing out at them all. Duo threw himself down over Danny, shielding the unconscious teen with his body and waited for the attack to hit... Except nothing happened. Nothing but a bright, blindingly white light.

Duo lifted his head to look only to find his little light buddies had shielded them...

And then it was quiet.

So quiet...

And then it seems like everything moves at once. Attacks hit the jelly, sound rushes back, and then goo. Goo everywhere. Duo gets splattered. They all get splattered, though since he was half covering Danny he at least escaped some of it.

Slowly he sat himself up, pushing himself up on shaky limbs to sit down on his butt as the lights sang for them... And he threw his head back gave a victorious whoop before he started to laugh.

[enthunder]

Vision so narrow at this point that she barely registers the final, desperate surge from the jellyfish, the gleaming attacks from her teammates, or the resulting wave of goo that collides with Sven's shield overhead, Light doesn't stop chain-casting until the song swells around them and Duo starts to cheer. Then, she blinks. Looks around. Confirms hazily that no one's dying.

Huh, they did it.

"Not bad," she rasps, meaning to follow up with a good work, or something a little more inspiring. Once she can think of it... Her hands fall, now crystal up to the wrist, and a second later so does she, entirely unconscious.

[aggressivelygood]

Unable to see from behind his giant shield, all Sven could do was brace himself. As energy thrummed around them he grit his teeth, praying now silently inside his mind as he holds the Petals of Nil steady. There was a startling rush of nothingness that felt like the deafness that followed being much too close to an explosion for comfort, and then...only the loud, slick slap of material across his shield.

Joyous song surged around them and he drew slowly to his feet, turning the Petals of Nil back to an upright angle. Slime splattered around his bare feet, seeping between his toes, but he was too numb to pay it mind. They...did they do it?

The broad wooden shield before him collapsed in on itself, the Petals of Nil reverting back into an innocent decoration. Sven kept himself together just long enough to see the precious item safely back into his hair before his legs give out under him, bringing him to his knees. He sinks back against Light, drained but with a relieved smile on his face.

[rieper]

47 instinctively lifted his gun to shield his face from the incoming splatter of goo. Thankfully Sven's shield got the most of it since he was still using it as cover but as it splashed down around them he felt some of it hit him as it bounced around after it's initial splat. At least he wouldn't have to worry about cleaning it off later since he was wearing mission wardrobe.

He shook his gun once just to make sure any larger splatters of goo didn't cling to it and then slung it over his shoulder as he stood up. He would be the last to admit that he was even remotely tired after their hard days of near ceaseless fighting as they waded their way to this area and then fought the giant jellyfish at the end. There was one last piece of the mission to complete before he could call it a day after all: getting back out.

47 turned his vision away from the defeated foe and looked down at the two team members at his feet already passed out from exhaustion. He hummed softly in the back of his throat and knelt down by them again, reaching out first for Lightning and then Sven to check their vitals. He didn't think they were hit too bad but he wanted to make sure. After a quick check to confirm they were just unconscious, he began the process of gathering Lightning to throw over his shoulder.

That was when it occurred to him that they now had proper communicators. He could report in the team's success for once.

[xue_yang]

Xue Yang kneels beside the now fallen sea creature. He's exhausted but letting loose and killing things had felt good so he refuses to just fall over and rest. He's just not sure he can stand quite yet either. Lightning's sword is still in his hand and he is completely covered head to toe in that disgusting goo. But a victory is a victory.

His eyes glance over the other red team members, seeing that some are doing better then others. He isn't used to working with a team but he can't say it was completely unpleasant. Not that he would say such a thing out loud.

[burntlikethesun]

The sudden dissolution of the jellyfish dropped Rose to the floor. She rolled and came up in a crouch, finding herself thoroughly drenched in goo. It wasn’t the most disgusting or undignified situation that she’d ever been in, but it was a near thing. Still, she supposed she should thank the local gods that the jellyfish hadn’t been the type of enemy that took you down with it with some trick of biology like toxic slime, especially since it looked like few were spared by the goo deluge.

She surveyed the condition of the others, noting that they’d lost some of their number to what was hopefully only exhaustion. The joyous song of the lights seemed to signal victory and boosted the mood, but did nothing against the fatigue of what felt like a days-long fight. Still, it was no time to drop her guard. They weren’t safely aboard the train yet and there were unconscious teammates to protect.

She stood and tried her best to remove the worst of the goop from herself. If her movements weren’t as quick or as smooth as usual? Well, it’d been a long day.

Rose gathered up her lost weapons, cleaning them of goo with a sharp flick of her wrists, and went over to check on the girl. She’d handled herself well but some of those hits were a bit much to take, even for the more durable adults. “Alright?”

[knifewithnoname]

All of a sudden it is raining goop. Which is worse than rain and snow put together. But the jellyfish is dead. She dropped to the floor as the emptiness fell away. Pain and exhausted crashed into her fiercely. Everything hurt, all her skin felt like it had been thrown in a fire, every bone crushed and every muscle snapped.

She wriggles her fingers and toes to make sure that that isn't the case, they still work and she starts to pick herself up. They aren't safe yet, the lights are singing but they are still in this place. Wherever it is.

She grinned at the woman exhaustedly. "Yes?" She doesn't sound sure and probably quite rightly as her legs all of a sudden decided they couldn't hold her weight after all and she fell back down with a crash.

[burntlikethesun]

She was sorry that her reaction speed was too slow to save the girl from a hard landing, but there was nothing to be done. She knelt down beside her and returned the grin. “You did good.” Real good, though she wouldn’t be much help now if she couldn’t even stay on her feet.

Rose had been told that the SCAs could teleport you back to the train in case of emergency. She’d never tried it herself and personally wasn’t eager to end up in a luggage, but she admitted that it would make things easier. Especially as she had no idea how they would make their way back to the island. It might be better for the girl to return to the train for a proper rest, but that wasn’t Rose’s decision to make. “SCA out or stay?”

[knifewithnoname]

It hadn't hurt that much and she sat there, still half smiling as the woman praised her. "You did be doing good too."

She had, it had been a hard fight and she wasn't the only fighter on the ground. That made her feel a bit better at least, even if it felt like her legs were made from jellyfish themselves.

She glanced at the SCA but the lights were beginning to move and she tilted her head. "I do be wanting to be staying." She wouldn't be much help, but it wasn't like they couldn't evacuate out later once this was over.

"What do they be doing?"