View source for 1437/Sweetly The Piper Played

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/01/28
|Location=The Secret World <TSW>
|Synopsis=Investigations lead to the location of Joe Slater. Questions are answered and answers are questioned. Chaos ensues.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=7, 42, 151, 481, 495, 515, 525, 626, 630, 662
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:515|Wuyin Tsai (515)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:xterm241">SWEETLY THE PIPER PLAYED</span><br /><br />It's night in Kingsmouth. It always seems to be.<br /><br />The fog is as thick as always. The weather is cold, but not freezing; it feels like late autumn rather than the dead of winter. Jack-o'-lanterns litter the streets, not one glowing but many grinning all the same. It feels like the encounter with Stingy Jack was only yesterday. It certainly looks like it.<br /><br />The usual meeting point, the Kingsmouth Volunteer Fire Department, is where the group of investigators and otherwise gather. Wards are given out, equipment is checked, refreshments are had (or, in some cases, refused; some know where they're going)... and then, out you go again. Down the street, towards the Church, through the endless ranks of the dead one more time.<br /><br />The heading: the sewers beneath Kingsmouth, where Joe Slater -- the only survivor of the Lady Margaret's expedition -- still remains. The goal: find out what happened, what he found, and where it might have gone. And, some of you might think, save the poor man. He must not be in good shape, down there.<br /><br />The easiest entrance to the sewers is right outside the Church. Descending is easy; Wuyin has already pried up the manhole cover and gone down, choosing to be the advance scout for the initial entry. He signals the all-clear, and the ladder leads into the wide, expansive sewers, built more like enormous catacombs than a sewage system. The tunnel stretches ahead, into a huge chamber with giant columns standing high. A few more zombies mill about, slow and waterlogged, and it forks into three seperate paths from there.<br /><br />The interlopers, of course, have their own ways around.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren arrives in his armor, as usual, and gladly accepts additional wards if offered, though he's wearing Inga's charm underneath.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The zombie horde is thinned somewhat via grenades and a handheld missile launcher brought along for this purpose.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Once Staren climbs down, he takes a look around the Absurdly Spacious Sewer. He throws up his hands. "Who makes a sewer this big? What possible point is there to excavating all this instead of sticking to small tunnels??"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Upon returning to Kingsmouth, Inga was only slightly surprised that it still seemed like autumn. Was time simply frozen in this place? It was as if the entire island was a world in itself, the fog a barrier between this nightmare and the world outside. A bubble they had to try to pop, and to do so, had to solve the mystery of what had happened here. Some of the pieces have been found, and finally, they have found a survivor of the event they believed triggered this mess. <br /><br /> Naturally, he is in the sewer. <br /><br /> Climbing down may be easy for /most/ people. Grumble. <br /><br /> Indeed, the usual speech has been given about the Filth, the usual protections supplied. <br /><br /> The Seer wrinkles her nose slightly as she lands with a squelch off the last step, turning to peer into the darkness. "He is down here, I am sure," she says quietly, but she will let others move first. One hand rests on her staff to help her walk, the other drifting toward the knife at her belt. She is prepared. She does not expect Joe Slater can be saved. <br /><br /> She has plans.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Prepared as usual, Kyra had the ward from the last visit on her, shielding her from the Filth. In the intervening time, she'd tried to reverse engineer it but had not been successful. She's also attempted to use it for other things-which were also not successful as she's quickly learning here as they slog their way through the darkness of the sewer system. <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyra has multiple lights on her-a sort of miner's headlamp running off her own MP and a number of inactive flashlights strapped to her belts. She walks in the very center of the group and does not look in any one place for very long. <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So far any zombies have been dispatched via one of her many firearms. Every now and then the others will observe her taking a shot off into the dark, even though it doesn't seem like anything's there. The teenager is clearly much, much more on edge than usual. "I dunno. I vote middle path and no splitting up, by the way. Can I emphasize the no splitting up thing?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With the prep round skipped, Kirika definitely gets the gist of the mission and background from Inga along the way. THe amulet the wisewoman provided beforehand should help protect against infection from the Filth, which is good enough for the vixen as she begins a descent into the sewers. Her clothing is rugged and ready for getting dirty, and she leaps into the sewers without hesitation.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This proves a bad idea, as she hacks and coughs hard from the overpowering stench of raw sewage among other things. "Bloody grace of the Lady, I can hardly breathe out of my nose!" She exclaims, her tail trying as hard as possible to avoid getting soaked in sewer water. Needless to say, it's pretty fucking disgusting to the vixen's highly sensitive nostrils, but she presses on despite her complaints, her sword in hand as she trudges shin-deep or more through the sewers until reaching the catacombs themselves.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Zombies, these she can deal with. Her blade slashes and hacks away with accurate cuts, making shashmi of the nearest undead to come towards her with chompy intent, all without breaking stride.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ainsley went through prep in relative silence. She responded to questions or comments but didn't seem in the mood to really contribute to much of the discussion. She seemed to be serious, but her blank face and almost vacant eyes when she was writing down on a notebook to pass the time as they walked said that she didn't really want to be here, despite actually being here and helping. No frowns or smiles, just a dull neutrality all the way to the catacomb.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She descends with the others, floating down as opposed to using the ladder. She doesn't really react to the smell of sewer or dark catacombs, the slime and muck seeming to wash over her like she's not even there.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Which isn't really the case, because she responds to Staren with one word:<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Illuminati." She says it with a dry disdain that paints a deeper picture of her unhappiness with this place.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When Kirika charges ahead to chop up zombies, she floats up to the corpses and performs sketches to try to identify them, her eyes lidding while she tries to puzzle out who these people were and what the differences were between them and the ones outside.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riva is here too! She looks more confident but less enthusiastic to be here than she usually is. She's gingerly trying to stay to the sides of the sewer, as if doing so will keep her from getting sewerstuff all over her. "Yeah, like Ainsley said, the Illuminati." She answers Staren. "They built this place from the ground up. The sewers are as much of a place to hide their bullcrap as a way to dispose of unwanted things." <br /><br />Riva doesn't even pull her guns at the undead. The others are doing just fine in murdering the undead. "I'm totally fine with not splitting up. I'm not interested in being alone in this goddamn sewer." She looks over to Kirika and tilts her head slightly. "I think we're in agreement on that one." She mutters, as she picks her way forward more.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kotone Yamakawa is loaded up and ready to go she's got a battle rifle from XCOM loaded down with reaper rounds and is packing several other bits of gear she's not even hiding things today she's even got a suit of their Carapace armour on. She knows how serious this is and whelp the armour had proven it self so far, right? She looks over to Kyra for a moment and itlts her head a little bit. <br /><br /> "It would be foolish to do so here." <br /><br /> She notes She also nods a bit to Inga as she makes ready to move out Kirika is also given a look of sympathy. <br /><br /> "Water Drainage or the old masters of this region had other plans for things down here. The Illimaniti love their riddles and mazes." <br /><br /> Also their memes not that she knows that just yet as she presses onwards. She makes her way down and tries to not think about things too hard. <br /><br /> "...lets move." <br /><br /> She's got her rifle up now and ready as who knows what's lurking down here aside flith and Draug."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:662|Fake Avenger (662)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; AGARTHA <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As ever, Agartha is abuzz with activity. The sweeping gateway between parts of the Secret World is filled to the brim with people of all races and all creeds, of all nations and all ideals - brought together by the power of the World Tree and the strange bees. It is guarded from infection - from infiltration - by the Custodians, the massive, sweeping, stomping golems who protect it on all routes. It is not a safe place for evil creatures to venture by any means. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One of the Custodians turns its massive head towards the air. It begins stomping forward. Several other Custodians start to move to join it, but, just as the Chosen begin to take notice, their walk ceases. No one pays attention to the bizarre warping of the Gate to Kingsmouth. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; KINGSMOUTH <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nothing emerges from the Well. No one notices anything suspicious enter the fog. No one is paying attention when, from out of the fog, a strange purple-haired swordsman in a purple kimono appears, followed by a Carribean man in a top hat and skull mask. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This sort of thing just happens in Kingsmouth. They shrug at the pair. Probably Dragons. Dragons are weird. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The purple-haired swordsman, meanwhile, looks off at the sky. The Carribean man leans over. "Why the fuck you drag us out here, anyway, huh? This place is so barren it makes a corpse look like a young mother. No pretty ladies out here." <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">I like that your new friend is so social. Tell him why we're here.</span> <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The swordsman ignores both his companion and the voice in his head. He's used to doing this. Eventually, however, he moves for the sewer grate. It takes mild application of force - something the swordsman has to spare - to force it open. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "You better be fucking joking," the Carribean man says slowly, adjusting his top hat. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "There is something we want here," the swordsman replies as he hops down the grate. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "It better be fuckin' worth it. Gonna ruin my tuxedo. Gonna ruin your damn Shroud, too. You know that, right? Gonna have to make a whole new one to get the stink out." <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Carribean man sighs and leaps down the hole. At least there'd be plenty of shadows to work with.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:515|Wuyin Tsai (515)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The straight tunnel turns out to be a good choice. It curves left with another cavernous sewer tunnel, the scattered undead proving to be a laughable obstacle between this well-armed group and their quarry. Wuyin keeps his sword at the ready, but he lets people with guns handle most of the dead that they encounter. Caster and Kojirou run into similar creatures, though their entrance is in a smaller side tunnel. Fewer come this way.<br /><br />The tunnel stretches into the distance. It leads towards the waterfront, the smell of saltwater mingling unpleasantly with the old sewage. Wuyin speeds up a little, moving off to the right to get onto a narrow walkway in this part of the tunnel. It takes a sharp right, and Wu steps to the corner, then abruptly stops.<br /><br />Around the corner is another long stretch of tunnel, broken on the left partway down by another side-passage. Detritus is scattered throughout its length, bits of wood and trash here and there. The shell of one of the larger draug's claws lies on the right against the wall, apparently shed and left where it lies. A figure sits in the shallow water in the center of the tunnel, wearing a bulky black and orange coat with the collar turned up and a fisherman's hat pulled low. He's facing away from the group as they approach.<br /><br />He half-turns, very slowly, leaning on his left forearm -- a limb that is covered up to the elbow in the chitinous growth common to the draug warriors' club-like arms. He looks back at you with one shadowed eye, and the outline of small barnacles on his cheek can be seen in the light coming off the small fixtures on the walls. He draws a wheezing breath.<br /><br />"Look on your face says even my good side is worse for wear," Joe says, in a rough voice.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren is safe from the sewer's stench thanks to sealed armor and an internal air supply. Beam cannons help deal with the zombies in the party's way.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When Wuyin stops, Staren starts to follow around the corner. "Huh. They shed their--" he starts, then catches sight of the man. "Is that...?"<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He gasps at the infected state of the man, raising his beamcannons -- but holding his fire when the man, well, doesn't act like a zombie. And /speaks/. "...Joe Slater?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kotone Yamakawa is able to gun down a few of the walking dead for all the long term good it will do. She was not expecting for a moment to find joe so soon but find him they so she pauses looking at the man for a moment. She moves head and pause as when the man speaks to them or if you could call him a man she sees the guy is partially infested but he seems to have his mind somewhat still. <br /><br /> "...Mister Slater?!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Inga manages to keep up so long as everyone doesn't decide to run the whole way, at which point people will be given pointed looks of disapproval from the limping witch. Wuyin takes the lead and the crew wisely decides not to split up. Seems Wuyin knew the right path without any help from her. Interesting. <br /><br /> They reach Joe Slater. It is about as bad as could be expected but not as bad as she'd feared. There is enough left of him to speak and reason. A least for the moment. Sad, for he is obviously aware of the horrible transformation that is upon him. <br /><br /> Inga steps a little closer toward him, greeting him. "Joe Slater? I'm Inga...we've all come to help Kingsmouth. We've been trying to figure out what happened here so that we can save the rest of the people here...do you think you could help us? We will help you as best we can," she says, watching him carefully. There may not be much time.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kirika keeps out of the line of fire for the gunners here, sheathing her sword as the journey underground leads them towards their quarry.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Her eyes widen as they encounter not a monster, or a man, but somewhere in between. Joe Slater looks..well, it's hard to dance around the obvious.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You are Joe Slater?" she asks, eyes wide for a moment as she takes in the mutated man's less-than-appealing appearance, much as she wishes to try and not make her disgust obvious.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Taking a page out of the Book of Ainsley, Kyra places herself under a Float spell so she can hover over the water and raw sewage instead of wading through it. Though she had brought a different, more rubber pair of boots for this mission, being able to keep her feet where she can see them felt like a fantastic bonus in this situation. "Nobody should be alone in a goddamn sewer." Kyra agrees with Riva, though in an oddly...distant tone. <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;All too happy to shoot things, suggesting some kind of pent-up aggression, Kyra merrily mauls any random undead they come upon with bullets. She almost winds up doing so to Joe before she realizes that the half-man half-draug is talking to them. At that point, she stops and stares with wonder. <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;To have one's own Pattern so unraveled and altered is unfathomable to Kyra. With one look, she can tell that nothing she has by way of magic or potion is going to do anything to reverse that. "I'll be straight with you here...the prognosis looks bad, mister."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ainsley follows the party at a slow pace, recording the appearances of the undead that she passes. She hums a little song to herself while she does this, blinking slowly to herself. It sounds like dancing music, if anything. She was not expecting to see the person they were looking for in any state where they could speak to him. When the party stops, she raises her gaze to look toward Joe.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Warm surprise washes across her face when the man appears to be alive, if in a state of infection. Her mouth opens and then shuts again...<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"There are medical facilities equipped for the most bizarre of ailments. We can help you... or at least prevent it from getting any worse than it already is," she adds, to complement Inga's words. Her voice is soft and her blue eyes showing a gentle kindness. She floats up to him carefully, alongside of Inga, but glances aside at Kyra, her brow creasing.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"We need to know what happened to you, Mister Slater," she says, with that same gentle voice, a little mellowed down again due to the hopelessness of this.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:630|Xion (630)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As Koujiro drops into the sewer, there is a splashing sound... Or maybe it's a squishing sound. A sound unlike anything that can be described unless you knew what that sound of 'dashing through pure darkness'. As things progress, it gets louder. There's even the sounds of something firm soundly thwacking something squishy, and small sounds of things that don't precisely talk (or have mouths) expiring.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then, from one of the (comedically wide) sewer bends, a single Heartless, a Shadow, scarpers towards the party, and... Hides behind Kojirou. Roaring down from the bend, weilding a japanese-style katana crackling with dark lightning, is a girl with black hair and a black coat. It's Xion! She charges Kojirou, with a mad grin on her face. "Heartless! I found you!" She cries, before swinging her sword at the swordsmaster. "Finally! The Corridors FINALLY got it right!" She whoops, before, she stops her swing, aborting it into a tumbling crash into the sewer water, tumbling into a crouch. "H-hey! You're not... Aaaagh!" She grumbles, before throwing a crackle of flame from her fingers into the Shadow (which pops quite neatly), before standing up and dripping fetid water and worse.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She looks at the other people, and the monstrous man they confront with questions. Wow, he looks sick!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Um... Sorry for intruding!" She announces, waving her sword hand (and sword) at the party as she wipes a black-gloved hand through her hair to straighten it. "Have you guys seen any Heartless?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:662|Fake Avenger (662)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kojirou walks through the Sewers of Kingsmouth, drawn inexplicably (well, perfectly explicably) towards Joe Slater with an unerring sense of guidance. Something (he knows quite well what) is urging him onwards, encouraging him past the monsters of the sewer. He doesn't even waste time on them; Kojirou ignores them entirely, leaving Caster of Brown to clean them up with his Shadow magic. Shadows looming long tear into the shadows of the monsters as Kojirou drifts and glides around them with superhuman ease and superhuman apathy. Any of them that move close enough to strike him are almost languidly put down with a punch or a chop. Kojirou has no desire to dirty his blade on these things. They're vile and uninteresting. His raw strength and power will do to disperse them. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; THen he rounds the corner, and everything goes mad. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The group sees the tall, purple-haired swordsman, covered in black tattoos that seem to writhe and wriggle in the darkness, wearing a purple kimono that seems much different than the one he wore once before. They see this a mere instant before Xion arrives and charges. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With languid, passive laziness, like water flowing down a hill, Monohoshi Zao emerges from its sheathe. The massive sword swings upwards to block the other katana. Kojirou doesn't look - he neither needs to glance behind him, nor turn his head to see what's going on in his Eye of the Mind. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He needn't have bothered. As Xion goes tumbling past him along the water, Monohoshi Zao vanishes back into its sheathe. On his arm, distinct from the black tattoos, the group is able to see the gleaming red of two Command Seals. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kojirou's eyes turn over to Joe Slater. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">Jackpot.</span> <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kojirou's eyes flick out to the group as Caster of Brown comes strolling-slash-dancing around the corner, whistling a jaunty tune - it sounds very much like a Michael Jackson song with even more ridiculous percussion, by the way he's improvising the beat - flanked by a dozen Shadows, which loom along the halls menacingly.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riva moves along with the others some more. The sewers aren't much of a conversation piece. And the less she talks, the less she needs to breathe this stench.<br /><br />When they finally reach Joe, Riva looks over the twisted man, and frowns, crossing her arms as she contemplates things. She doesn't say anything at that point, everything's been said already, which leaves Riva in an odd position of not actually chattering all over the place for once. <br /><br />the arrival of Xion causes Riva to tip her head, blinking in surprise... But she shrugs. <br /><br />And then Kojirou shows up. "OH HELL!" Riva yells, pointing. "IT'S THAT GUY!" Riva pulls her guns and immediately tromps over to interpose herself between Kojirou and Slater. "Stand back, jerkface. I might not be able to match your super ninja-ass samurai squad skills, but before you get any closer you're going to tell us what you're here for."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:515|Wuyin Tsai (515)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Joe Slater nods his head slowly, as if it pained him to do it, confirming who he really is. He stares at Inga with one blue eye, a still-human eye, and gradually takes in the rest of the party as they come. He doesn't seem bothered by their disgust. At least. not openly. It's somewhat difficult to tell, given how mutated he is, and how little of his face you can see.<br /><br />He looks between Ainsley and Kyra. "I've been trying not to think about the... changing. Like it could all be a bad dream I ain't woken up from." He tries to laugh, but all he gets is a pitiful 'heh' and another wheeze. Every time he pauses, he labors to breathe, the sound wet and reedy. He shifts, getting his legs underneath him, and draws himself up off the floor. His left arm is worse than it looked; it's a rough, uneven mass of coral and carapace, a jagged example of one of the draug club-arms. Maybe it hasn't finished growing yet. His hand is gone beneath it.<br /><br />Xion arrives. He turns. His right arm has a hand, but short, filthy-looking (not Filthy-looking) green-brown tentacles portrude from his bulging forearm, writhing and wrapping around the limb. Joe stares at her, looking down at her with both eyes, his blue human one and the wider, yellow-irised orb inside a socket surrounded by rough, hardened... is it still skin? It's hard to tell. She apologizes, and he just shakes his head in the negative. Kojirou... Joe doesn't look at him. He deliberately avoids looking in the swordsman's direction, a look of fearful desperation growing on his face. He backs up towards the far wall.<br /><br />"Nightmares, all nightmares, since that storm blew us off-course." He speaks in that wet and rough voice, fear leaking into his tone. He looks between Ainsley and Inga and Kyra. "Off the compass. Off the map." He shakes his head slowly. "We didn't tell anyone about the shit we saw. About dead ships all caught up in red weed as far as you could see. About the /things/ moving in the fog... in the water. About what we saw beneath it all, deep into the abyss."<br /><br />He stares at the disgusting water for a long moment. "Or what I found there."<br /><br />Joe Slater slowly lifts his head. "In that dungeon darkness, it shone like a signal flare. Like something -- fallen down from Heaven above, you understand?" He looks for comprehension from someone, anyone -- anyone but the Fake Avenger. "A blade made of pure light," he says, voice awestruck and then shifting to grim intonations, "a thing of terrible beauty. I could hear its siren song, just... calling me."<br /><br />He stops, looking distant. Haunted.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Everyone wants to help the poor man. Inga included. Inga however, does not think this change can be reversed. Even if it could...they would have to take him out of Kingsmouth to do it, which would be extremely unwise. If he is infected with the Filth he will spread it--and with the way the Filth spreads? That would be catastrophic for the multiverse. <br /><br /> Her heavy thoughts are then interrupted by the arrival of Xion, who is spouting nonsense as far as she knows. Heartless? What? And what is she /doing/ here!? Inga frowns deeply. "You should not be here. It is very dangerous," she informs her. Again. Filth, multiverse, catastrophy. <br /><br /> Chaos continues. Complicates. Inga's eyes widen as a man in a purple dress arrives with a sword. "Odin's bones, what is this?" she grumbles. She absolutely cannot deal with this right now. The man in the purple dress is apparently very bad news, and if he is possibly here for Joe...well, that is just /not/ happening. <br /><br /> Inga turns to focus on Joe, listening. "Alright, Joe, you can tell me all about it and I will try to help you. I'm doing this to protect us," she says as she draws her knife, not wanting to spook him as she brings the knife to her arm and opens a gash in her arm. Blood flows freely, pooling in the air as if no longer subject to gravity. Inga draws her knife in a circle around her, Joe, and anyone else who wants to be within its protection. The blood flows in the circle, hovering there, shimmerig crimson and glowing softly. <br /><br /> Hopefully, that will at least hinder them from interfering. <br /><br /> Inga moves closer to Joe. There is no way around this, she needs to be closer to him. His words sink in and she nods along. "Yes...I have seen some of what you describe. The blade...did you take it? Did you bring it back to Kingsmouth? What happened then? With the fog?" she asks, trying to bring him back from that haunted place. Keep him talking. She hopes others can handle what madness is happening. Servants? Like Saber? She can't think of this now!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ainsley's head turns almost like it was on a rusty metallic joint, her hesitation making the robotic movement almost unsettling. Her kindness faded for the neutrality -- no, that is thinly-veiled hostility, toward the Fake Avenger and his companion. But Xion gets a distracted look, uncertain how to deal with her in this situation. So she decides to take advantage of this confused girl's state.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She points at Xion. "There are no... more Heartless here, but if you fight the darkness, then you will help us protect Joe. Right?" With the situation spelled out, she moves to interpose herself between Joe and the strange pair of Heroic Spirits. She sets herself down on the floor, and a soft red glow shines through her body, bloody red soaking into her eyes.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Please state your business here," she says, in as polite a tone she can manage, ignoring the ominous red magic aura she briefly emitted. She just switched mana alignments so that if she gets skewered by a sword she doesn't instantly double over in agony. Pain resistance is perfect for defending someone.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kotone Yamakawa gets a huge bad teeling at this sudden arrival Xion is an unknown looking for heartless? She's got no idea there she listens to jow however and keepos on her guard she frowns his mind's still his but she wonders and yet? He's still got information for them and thus she listens everything is recorded and can be looked over late. <br /><br /> "So you found a blade and it called out to you joe?" <br /><br /> She's very much on edge given the Avenger and Caster that showed up. Xion is a concern but she's not drawing red flags like the other two are. She does however move to get herself in the way of anyone going for Joe, she doesn't bring her weapon up just /yet/.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;!!!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Nonsense about Heartless aside, Kirika doesn't hesitate to leap into defense mode. Her sword leaves her sheath very quickly, and none of the affable warmth that the Avenger may have seen before from the vixen sure isn't here now. "I know who you are, Avenger. I know of the depths of evil you are willing to go to in the pursuit of your goals. I was a fool before to assume you were a man of honor, and I see that now."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Her red eyes narrow as she stands between Avenger, the Caster, (and Xion) and Joe as she tightens her grip on Kinugiri.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes, she's aware she may be in over her head, but damn if she's gonna just step aside on this when lives are at stake.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren listens to the story. "The filth was unleashed by a /blade of light/?" That doesn't make any particular sense... but, it doesn't make /un/-sense, either.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then there's a guy and heartless, and then there's someone who's bad news but he can't just blow them up because sewer gasses.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He uses his wings to make a flying leap over Slater, drawing his beam sabers (as conceptual weapons, they aren't necessarily based on fire) and glaring at the man with the shadows. "What do you want?" he growls.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:630|Xion (630)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Xion lets 'her' sword disappear with a metallic shwing, seemingly unphased by Kojirou's TOTAL DENIAL of her advance, and the destruction of the Shadow. Samedi summons up some Not-Heatless-Shadows, but Xion just sort of looks... Cheery. "Oh!" She just sort of insinuates herself into the situation, looking quite happily at Joe. "Oh! I know. I'm supposed to introduce myself. Roxas always tells me to 'act more normal'." So she walks right on up to poor Joe, takes his club hand with her tiny girl gloved hand, and... shakes it. "Hello! I'm Xion! It's very nice to meet you, sir. Are you hurt? Let me try and help! I know Cure!" She offers, cheerily. Her face betrays no horror, no fear. Not even the barest wink of hesitation. She treats him the same as she treats everyone else.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She looks to Inga, though. "Oh! I'm sorry, um, do you need healing either? You cut yourself really bad!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Xion comes flouncing in all Xion-y. Kyra recognizes the girl right away and immediately worries since this is one of the worlds out there filled with 'stage hazards' that could do nasty, nasty things to you. She makes a noise of concern which dies in her throat as she spots the sword. "...the Murasame blade...? It can't be..." she mutters, knowing full well that the weapon cannot be stolen from Souji. Then again, she did hear Shirou mentioning this morning that he could 'trace' weapons and create replicas. Maybe this was something similar. <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Patiently, she watches Joe, listening to him speak. She nods, encouraging him to continue, "Did you take this sword, Joe?" she asks gently before her attention is drawn... <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;...to the two servants in the back. She is not happy to see either, especially Caster, who she really wishes they were able to destroy. Knowing that Inga is going to be busy and the others are going to be better suited for combating the pair, Kyra remains back with the seer and lifts a hand, getting ready to cast Wall to protect the protector. (She knows how it is, the person casting the buffs always gets targeted). But as the magic swells inside of her something goes horribly, terribly wrong. <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The white magic warps and inverts into a sickly non-elemental miasma that fills the air and tears through the tunnels like a fierce sandstorm. It soaks into everything that moves, the malignant energies spawning random 'mutations' in the unfortunate victims.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:662|Fake Avenger (662)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kojirou advances. He is slow and patient, moving like the moon through its orbit. He goes where he wants to go. He goes where he chooses to go. He is confident that nothing will sway his path, for he is - again - like the moon. Nothing *can* sway his path. When Kojirou Sasaki has decided he is going somewhere, he will get there. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With a distinctive /shhhhnk/, Monohoshi Zao emerges from its sheathe. The sword is much too long to be reasonable. It is a slender, flickering crescent moon, nearly five feet long and shining like liquid moonlight. It hangs at his side, slightly hampered by the circumstances of the sewers - it faces forward rather than at his side, for he cannot properly swing it here. To observers, it may seem as if Kojirou cannot fight as well in such cramped spaces. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; These observers are fools. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ainsley is spared a glance from those bizarre lavender eyes, but Kojirou does not speak. He continues walking forward, Caster hot on his heels - in fact, it seems like Caster is almost using him as a (super)human shield. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "What you know of me could not fill a bowl of rice," Kojirou replies to Kirika with that same detached cheer he seems to do all things. Indeed, that might be the most bizarre part of it all - Kojirou's smile has not wavered. It has not changed. His distant, peaceful smile, like a still place in the whirling maelstrom of his presence. The black scars along his body seem to twitch once more, shifting into a new configuration once again. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Light holds back the darkness," Kojirou observes with a sudden clarity, "The moon pushes the night away from the pond, shining gently down amidst the stars." <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">You aren't planning to try and get rid of me</span>, <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">are you?</span> <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kojirou shakes his head at nothing at all as he stops. Is he...intimidated by the group? That placid smile, those lavender eyes...they're impossible to read. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kojirou holds up his left hand, the back of it facing the group. His sleeve falls away, revealing a series of...lines?...that seem bizarrely orderly superimposed over the scars/tattoos. Light suddenly flares along them, and magic-sensitive individuals get to feel an intense surge of powerful and terrifying energy. It feels /wrong/ - tainted mana, dark prana, pouring through Kojirou like a vessel as it takes shape. Kojirou speaks. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Elementar." <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As Xion moves for Joe, the power explodes out of Kojirou. It is like instinct - the Magic Crest provides the form, but Kojirou is a magnet, a beacon for dark things, and all it takes is that power to draw the storm. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kyra's maelstrom erupts. It sweeps over Kojirou and Caster - the latter of whom, realizing that he's in a massive shitstorm, immediately blinks out, using his Bilocation to vanish before he's corrupted by Kyra's power. He emerges back at his workshop next to his other self, panting and wheezing in terror. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Then... <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Then comes the Filth. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kojirou is the Root Of All Evil. In his hands, a simple spell to manipulate elements - a harmless thing - becomes a terror. And here, in Kingstown, where the Filth dwells... <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As madness begins, Kojirou trusts that they will have more than enough to deal with. And he walks, unfettered and unhampered by insanity, towards the doubtlessly-panicking form of Joe Slater.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kotone Yamakawa looks at Xion for a moment and her eyes narrow her rifle shifts a bit as she moves but does not raise her weapon. <br /><br /> "Get back and back off let Inga do what she needs to do. You have no idea what your dealing with here. Please stand down and back off." <br /><br /> She's already on edge from Avenger she hears Kyra's suprise at the sword hs wield if she recalls right didn't that smith make a number of blades? Now is not the time to think on the most skilled smith in Japanese history no. <br /><br /> She keeps tabs on what's Joe's saying and moves to keep Xion back by using her body sort of as a barricade. <br /><br /> Then everything goes to hell in a handbasket as Kyra lets off her own spell and everything is going mad and the Flith oh god in heaven. <br /><br /> She's then sees something moving for Joe wjhich she then launchesw her self at intending to tackle them into the muck of the sewer.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:515|Wuyin Tsai (515)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kotone and Inga try and talk him through. He blinks unevenly, one eye and then the other, focusing back on them. He's in some kind of circle. People are moving to protect him. Protect... /him/? Xion shakes his club, and he stares at her, dumbstruck. He feels something stir in his chest. He is genuinely uncertain if it is her touching his heart or something fighting to grow in the cavity.<br /><br />"Don't know if this is the kind of thing you can cure," he croaks, "but thank you for offering, miss. Xion." Joe breathes. He tries to answer the questions. "Last I remember was the Creed boys hollaring as I took a hold of it," Joe says. He looks down at the tentacles writhing from his arm. This close, Inga can see his torso is bloated and his shirt is stained red. It looks ridged underneath. The transformation seems worse the longer you look. "Or it took a hold of me." He closes his fingers. "I wasn't strong enough. I know that now." He tries to resume his story, tries to keep his tone even. It doesn't really work. "They told me it pushed back the fog and the waves while I was out cold. Told me it saved us."<br /><br />His voice drops to a near-whisper. He shudders uncontrollably. "It didn't save us."<br /><br />"That thing brought the fog back to Kingsmouth," he says, shakily. "/I/ brought the fog back to Kingsmouth."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:515|Wuyin Tsai (515)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Grand Cross erupts through the sewer from one direction, a wall of miasma like a sandstorm's wave. It crashes down the tunnel and the fork, striking the roaming dead that come and rendering them unto stone. From the other, the cracked stone surface of the sewer wall suddenly wells up with black liquid and bursts like it was under pressure, a deluge of pitch-dark sludge pouring out of the wall and into the sewage below. It looks like a pipe burst -- or a vein was sliced, neatly and cleanly and oh so bloodily.<br /><br />The Filth wells out of the break. It turns the murky brownish sewer water black as tar, black as midnight, a wave of anti-color that rolls outward in a tide. The edges of the crack well up with more of the stuff, and liquid-seeming tendrils of Filth crawl out, growing across the far wall in fast-forward. The Filthy tide washes into the side tunnel, overtaking it as it approaches. It's fast. Too fast.<br /><br />A creature emerges from the side tunnel. It's black-skinned and red-eyed, coated from head to toe in roiling Filth. It looks like it might have been one of the undead before, but now, it's something altogether different. It lurches forward, and the bottom of its jaw and the top of it's skull burst with a sickening CRACK, clusters of writhing black tentacles worming their way out of its body and into sight. It wobbles -- and then charges, diving at the bloody barrier and the inhabitants.<br /><br />Shocked, Joe's mind snaps into a fight-or-flight state. He suddenly moves, lunging forward at Inga with a manic look on his mutated face. He stops himself before he can touch her, speaking in a panic. "And I still hear that siren song! I know you hear it too --" The Filth-creature is nearly at the barrier, in a span of words. Everything is happening so /fast/ --<br /><br />Kotone leaps in the way. She bodily tackles the creature before she knows what it is, the impact driving it off its feet and into the water. The inky stain approaches, but not from it; it comes from the rolling, whispering tide behind, overtaking the disgusting muck left too long in this place and replacing it with something altogether worse. It snakes out with octopodal limbs of liquid night, the liquid darkness trying to approach through the water and take hold of the many, many creatures it has yet to taste.<br /><br />Joe sobs as he speaks. "You could find it! You could stop the /God-awful/ noise, put that burning brightness back where it belongs, in the deep, in the dark!" Something seems to occur to him, and he slumps over in defeat, looking back at the horrible scene as it unfolds. Will the Filth breach the blood? Oh, almost certainly. Is it there yet? Not quite.<br /><br />"I wonder what woulda happened if I never left that red sea. Maybe Joe Slater never did," the near-draug says, voice flat and drained as the Filth monstrosity starts to rise again, "and all this is just some pitch-dark dreaming."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's RANDOM STATUS EFFECT TIME!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:purple">POISON</span><br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fortunately, Staren's armor renders him <span class=" bold_fg_w bg_n ++ hw">IMMUNE</span>. Lucky!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But now there's a filth-monster, and Kotone just TACKLED IT. "Kotone!" His sabers merge into one and he draws his staff, trying to blast the filth monster into the wall with a sudden, firehose-like blast of water (which doesn't push /him/ backwards because magic). He follows it up with a salvo of some other kind of energy blast which he hopes won't ignite the gas... although, as more filth creeps up, just blowing the place is starting to look /really attractive/, so he suggests that maybe his allies all get inside some wards and they do /just that/.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riva is about to undergo a MAXIMUM SHOWDOWN with Avenger. "I don't think I need to know anything about you to fight!" Riva retorts, evne if she wasn't even the one being addressed with that. She's like that sometimes. "I'm going to show you what else holds back the darkness! BULLETS!" She levels her guns at the same moment Elementat goes off and a Grand Cross of bullcrap hists the sewer system. <br /><br />When the miasma passes, Riva is no longer there. <br /><br />Something does, however, wriggle in the water near Kyra. There is a splash, and a green, bulge-eyed amphibian tries to hop into Kyra's robe. There's a splash of red on the back that kind of looks like Riva's hair, but the frog is all purplish too, so who knows. <br /><br />"Ribbit." The frog enunciates eloquently. <br /><br />Unfortunately, frogs are ill-equipped to take on monstrosities.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When Koujirou ignored Ainsley's words, she didn't wait for him to answer her. She just grabbed her longsword from its scabbard and raised it defensively, her body already tense. She was ready to fight before this got complicated. She was ready to bleed, if she had to, before this become a huge mess.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Grand Cross washes over her, and slaps her with a status effect that makes her change in a familiar way.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:green">MINI</span><br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ainsley is reverted back down to the tiny size of about four feet tall, and her strength becomes much less, her body teetering forward as she struggles to hold her own weapon. She puts away the sword soon after this and growls to herself. The magic and chaos permeating around them as things just go bad... She has barely registered the fact that a Filth monster has barrelled through the gloom and attacked the bloody barrier.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She staggers away from the scuffle with widened eyes. As it soaks murk into the sewer, all of her feathers puff out at once.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Profound horror fills Ainsley's face, not unlike reliving a traumatic event. Because that's what is happening. Reliving the noise of the Untold, the despairing corpses of Aztlan, the imagined formless 'Them' that the Abstractum face, and the Shades of her own world. And what she'd become if she were turned into a creature of the dark, killing just because she could.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ainsley turns tail and runs, for her sake and for the sake of her loved ones, because she honestly thinks staying here would result in a fate worse than death.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:626|Kyra Hyral (626)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The magical miasmic sandstorm continues for some time, the magic leaking from Kyra uncontrollably. The white mage herself floats, bobbing above the rising, ebbing, and darkening 'water' beneath them, a blank look on her face her head tilted backwards. As it ends and as the Filth approaches, Kyra comes to, a horrified expression on her face. <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She knows very well what she just did, having been rendered a spectator to her own magic for those few seconds. <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyra floats backwards, back pressing against the warded area that Inga created as she sees Kotone wrestling with the Filth and the Avenger approaching. Frantically, she reaches under her hoodie to snatch up a flask, which she hurls at the Filth monster. It does not explode-seeing as they knew there was a sewer involved tonight-but splashes, releasing supercooled liquid as it does. <br /> <br /> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Riva-frog easily hops up onto the floating white mage and take refuge in the pocket of her hoodie. It's a safe spot as long as Kyra isn't grabbed by tentacles. "Move him!" Kyra screams, "We need to get out of here!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kotone Yamakawa has slammed into the horror that was called down upn them the dark tide has come and there won't be long. There'ss something burning in Kotone, she's sick of somewthing dhe's sick of being afraid she's sick of hiding behind otherds and putting people like Alexis, Riva, Inga, Rory and others at risk for her sake. She slams into the Flith monster. She attemps to get her rifle to beat and fired a good burst of reaper rounds hopefuly into it at point blank range. She's gong to try to get back she wards. She's now shooting at it again as she falls back hopefully to the safey of the wards, she knows Inga can't run fast and she's got the idea she may need to be ready to carry Inga out of here. <br /><br /> "We got to get Inga, Joe and GO!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:630|Xion (630)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Within the barrier of blood, Xion, the Girl That Wasn't, shakes the club-arm of Joe Slater, before patting him on his carbuncled shoulder. "Well, you sound sick, so..." She offers, before a few motes of pale white light dance out of her hand, before swirling around Joe. It doesn't stop his transformation. It won't save him. But... For maybe a few seconds, it doesn't feel so bad. Maybe he can draw in a full lungful of air. Feel human for a little longer. Xion isn't a White Mage, or a Sage, or any sort of super magical prodigy healertype. It's a band-aid over a gaping wound. His character has been changed so utterly that, well...<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's not worth fretting about. "Okay, Mister Slater. Don't worry." She steps aside, within the ward of blood, and draws up her hood. "I'm a Keyblader. And those? Why, those are my natural enemy! Heartless!" She announces, as her Keyblade shwinks into being in a two-handed grip, as she takes up a stance to stop the Filth entity. Red eyes and inky-tentacleness? Black water? Well, it checked a few of the right boxes. It's (X) BLACK (X) GOOGLY EYED (X) OSTENSIBLY BAD!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I've finally found some /real/ heartless threatening /real/ people! For realsy-reals! You won't see me running /this/ time. I'll be a hero!" She announces, glancing back with her hooded head at Joe and Inga. "Uh, but if you wanna run, I bet this could be pretty... uh..." She pauses to snap her fingers, trying to remember the word. "Oh! Right. Scary! That's the one." She offers, with a rakish smile. Then it's back to her staring down (through the barrier) the Filth Monstrosity. And maybe Koujirou.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:662|Fake Avenger (662)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Filth around Kojirou is utterly ignored. He walks, alone, unmolested, through the storm of madness. He pauses as people around him are hit by the strange storm of magic - something he alone resists, partially by virtue of the Magic Resistance skill he activated back when Staren was talking about fireballs, and partly because the legends of Heroic Spirits are not so easily mutated, particularly legends as old and terrible as Kojirou Sasaki. He watches them dispassionately as they run away from the storm he has unleashed. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is almost subtle, then, when he holds it back. It's just for an instant that the Crest surges with power - but it does, and for that instant, the Filth is pushed back ever so slightly, a forced hesitation that will do no more - for Kojirou has no reason to close the floodgates, either. It does not benefit Kojirou to kill them. It does not benefit Kojirou to destroy the town. It does not benefit Kojirou to do anything but speak with Joe Slater. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He passes through the cloud of madness and towards the altar. He stops outside it, unwilling to cross it. And he looks Joseph Slater in the eye. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No. It is more accurate to say that he forcibly stares into Joe's eyes until their eyes meet. And at that moment... <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">I think we have much in common.</span> <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I think we have much in common," Kojirou echoes the voice in his head, the voice that only he - and Something Else - can hear. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He flicks his eyes at Xion. He doesn't do anything but stand there and watch her stand her ground. He makes no aggressive moves. His eyes simply slide back to Joe's. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">Let's talk.</span> <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Let's talk," Kojirou echoes.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:481|Kirika (481)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kirika stares as a clusterfuck essentially occurs, and she blinks as Kyra suddenly does a thing in the middle of it!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Despite not actually being one to reall feel it normally, Kirika can't help but be overtaken by a torrent of fear as she shakily weighs her options here. There is a very creepy sworddood here and a gross filth monster and everything is horrible.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And after lashing out a bolt of fire at the filth monster, Kirika very promptly books it, sheathing her sword and grabbing at Inga and Joe by the wrist both as she runs like hell is at her heels, and there's a chance she may or may not release them both as she continues to sprint her way towards whatever will lead her above ground again.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The effects may wear off quickly, but the vixen sure takes advantage of it while it lasts.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga (525)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span> Everything has completely gone mad. Kyra tried to cast something, but Inga is just going to assume it went horribly wrong as she feels the strange magic and the noxious gas. Inga's circle stands to keep this at bay, thankfully, though she is going to need to pour more anima into the circle at this rate. <br /><br /> Especially now that the dress wearing madman is approaching, apparently his sights set on Joe Slater. Well that cannot be allowed to happen. Inga has to trust that those outside the circle can handle this while she focuses on keeping the circle strong so that Joe can answer their questions. He is the only one left who can. If they are going to save the rest of the people in this town they /need/ to know. So the dance to protect a doomed man continues. <br /><br /> A man who becomes more doomed with each passing second. The anima or whatever it is this new arival uses feels terribly wrong. Corrupted. <br /><br /> Then, the Filth. WELL THAT EXPLAINS IT THEN! Inga curses, drawing more blood from her wound to reinforce her circle. It is a good thing, as a Filth creatures rises and comes lunging toward her circle. This is more or less enough to give her nightmares for a very long time. As if she didn't have enough visions of horror and death in her memory already. She lets out a small scream before she cuts it short as it slams into the barrier. She feels it almost like phsyical force, the Filth straining against her blood-barrier. <br /><br /> <span style="color:xterm240">Letmeinletmeinletmeinletmein</span> <br /><br /> Is it speaking to her, or is that simply memory? Inga doesn't even have the time to find out. Joe lunges toward her and Inga prepares to stab him with her knife. He stops short however, and speaks. She listens with wide eyes, trusting the barrier will hold just a little while longer...<br /><br /> Poor Joe. "We'll find it, Joe. We'll put it back. And you? You will not be in anymore pain. You will help us save this town," she says, moving just a little closer to him. She's right there, looking like she's going to embrace him. <br /><br /> Koujiro approaches and stands outside the barrier. Inga eyes him, frowning deeply. He'd brought the flood of Filth in. Much in common? With Joe? Inga shakes her head at the man. "He won't hold on much longer...let him die as a man," she says. <br /><br /> Inga turns back toward Joe and slowly reaches toward him, putting an arm around him. "Go unto death as yourself Joe Slater, may the gods embrace you and put you in a place of honor," she says to him, before raising her eyes for a moment. "I dedicate this sacrifice to Odin, grant is victory--help us to save this town," she she prays, then quickly and neatly slices Joe's throat. <br /><br /> Everyone is running, now. That's probably wise. Inga was never very good at running, but that's not her only means of escape. <br /><br /> She flicks blood from the knife, then brings it up to give herself the same treatment.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Riva is nestling in Kyra's hoodie. Were she not A) a frog and B) under threat of horrible mutiliation with a bunch of her friends, she'd probably be totally down with this. However, in her state, there's nothing else she can do. FROGS CANNOT FIRE GUNS. THIS IS FROG LAW. <br /><br />Riva emits another croak, as if in response to Kyra's commentary on the situation. She's no more than an observer at this point. At least until the magic runs out.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren waves the staff between Filth Monster and Creeping Filth as people run for it. Which leaves them with... Fake Avenger, and Xion. "I'm taking care of this stuff. If you're smart, you'll run too." He turns, his staff collapses and he puts away his beam saber.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He begins to glow as his teleporter starts to activate.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;His shoulder missile packs detach and fall off. He runs.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's simple to command his missiles to become timed explosives. Especially since he saw the potential need for that and made it a setting ahead of time.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then he comes on two bodies lying in the muck. "What..."<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He has a second or two before teleporting.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He kneels and grabs Slater.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He teleports.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class=" bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm">*FWOOOOOOOOM*</span><br> <br>

:'''{{#var:515|Wuyin Tsai (515)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The Filth-creature gets up, and gets peppered with fire -- in one case, literally, which, fortunately, does not instantly kill everyone inside the sewers. Ice spreads across it, and a mix of gunfire and some kind of energy force it back, burning into its core. It screams a very human scream.<br /><br />Joe Slater is given a moment's peace by the application of some White Magic. His breath comes easier, suddenly clear, and the red, raw skin around his neck gradually shifts back to nearly normal human coloration, if a touch pale. A moment of relief passes over him. "Thank you." He sounds almost normal. His blue eye waters. "Thank you."<br /><br />Kojirou speaks to him. Joe cannot look away. His relief gradually fades, giving way to fear once again. He tries to shake his head. Can he deny what he -- what /they/ are saying?<br /><br />Inga takes his attention back. She speaks in calm and nearly comforting tones. She raises the knife. She cuts -- and it doesn't cut cleanly. It cuts human flesh and then bites into carapace beneath the skin, drawing a spray of miscolored blood and other, less-human fluids. He lifts his one good hand, and the tentacles on his arm grasp his neck and shoulder, trying to staunch the flow. His knees give out; he falls into the water, staring at the wise woman with a look of betrayal, not peace.<br /><br />Staren takes hold of the dying(?) man(?) and leaves, a cluster of explosives in the tunnel behind him. The tunnel where Xion, Kotone, Wuyin and the Avenger still stand.<br /><br />Kotone and Xion fight the monster, the former firing and the latter going for the face-off. The Filth monster throws itself at the Nobody, leaving itself wide open for any counterattack she'd care to mention. She has precious moments before Staren's payload goes off and wipes it -- and, likely, the rest of them -- off the map.<br /><br />Wuyin abruptly moves for the first time since Grand Cross went off, no longer affected by STOP. He takes stock of the situation in the blink of an eye. Wu charges forward, splashing into the dark water beyond Xion and Kotone, up past his ankles in Filthy liquid. His leg spasms as soon as it touches it, and he drops to a knee in the fluid. Wuyin grabs his focus and yells, thrusing both hands at the water behind him and to either side. There's a flash of golden Anima, and a surge of white wind that howls backwards, enough to throw both Xion and Kotone back down the tunnel and keep them tumbling for quite a ways.<br /><br />On one knee in the rapidly-expanding pool of Filth, Wuyin screams in agony and defiance. His movements are stiff and jerky, but he manages to lift both hands, clutching the effigy with white-knuckled fingers. There's a sudden surge of intense cold, and a wall of ice erupts from the ground behind him. It neatly boxes the Filth in with them.<br /><br />The explosion collapses that section of the sewers with a deafening roar and a rumble of shattering Earth. Staren may have just killed two people while solving the new Filth problem -- but fortunately, death is hardly permanent for either of them.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:662|Fake Avenger (662)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kojirou, distantly apathetic, watches the blast rush on. He is caught in fire, and, as he is not much more durable than a mortal man and he does not have any need to block the fire, he simply lets it wash over him and fry him to a crisp. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kojirou disappears. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Far away, in the Land of Steel, in a land full of absolute darkness, something stirs. Once, the land was called 'Fuyuki.' Once, the stirring thing was called the 'Holy Grail'. <br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It stirs. And the shadows aroound it tremble.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kotone Yamakawa is racing back to get Inga and Joe, she sees Kyra's magic is working it seems to be purging the infection from Joe, maybe if they can get him top side there's something they can do for her she peed up but then inga lashes out and attemps to kill Joe. Inga then succeed or fail slits her own throat which leaves Kotone in a whole heap of trouble. <br /><br /> She sees STaren makes he move and gets a hold of Jo, then leave. There's the explovies. <br /><br /> she look desperatley for a way out but then comes Wuyin does something with his magic and she goes flying skipping across the less flithy water into th depths of the sewers and away from the reach of the bomb blast goes off. <br /><br /> She can't utterly condem Inga for it but she saw whatever Kyra did seemed to be working. Whatever happens there is going to be nuts. She shakes her self off and starts seeking way up calling out to Xion. <br /><br /> "Look for ... a ladder we need to get out of here." <br /><br /> She doe find one and moves to climb up, push the manhole cover off and get out to another part of the street far from where they went in after joe.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>OUTSKIRTS OF KINGSMOUTH<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There's a faint flash of light, and then Staren and Slater appear. There might be some stray Draugr nearby, they can be particle beamed.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren sets to work. He pulls out some future med-tech, then frowns to himself. This man is part man, part filth monster. Unusual measures may be called for.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So instead he draws out something that looks like a hypospray, but studded with clear crystals. Some time ago, he threw a medkit into the machine on the Abstractum Homeworld, with a hypospray mockup for the form. His theory is that this made a device that will automatically apply the healing effects of anything that was in the kit. Time to test that theory! He places it against Joe's neck and 'fires'.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Decontam procedures come after he's done whatever he needs to medically. Besides any small chance to cure this man of the filth, he holds an important key: The knowledge of where this glowing sword thing is!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:630|Xion (630)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;XION versus HEARTLESS(???)<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Xion doesn't charge in, and instead holds her ground mostly, a smile on her face. She HELPED. She was NORMAL. But as she drew her hood down with a tug from her eyes, a slow, wicked smile creeped across her face. The short, black haired youth seemed to melt away, as she twirled her keyblade around the hilt, to grip it in a tight reverse. "Heh heh heh. With most everyone gone, it can't hurt to stretch a little bit, would it?" Xion mutters quietly, a sort of dark, brooding, unkind tone having filtered into her voice. As it nearly falls upon her with a heaving smash attack, she tenses, and flickers in her step. She's on the side wall! She's on the roof! She's...<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Xion becomes a blur of movement as she drops on the Filth creature from below, her hand filling with a roil of pale energy as she uses her reversed keyblade like a hook, to 'slit' the behemoth's throat and drive a giant dagger of pale light into it, which explodes.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She lands neatly on the raised area, her wicked grin triumphant, crouching.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then the missiles go off, and the smile disappears.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thankfully Wuyin has OTHER plans for this, sending her and Kotone flying away. PCHOOOOOO!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;KABLOWIE!<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Drawing herself up, Xion is dirty and stinky and sewer-tastic, but she never touched that Filth crud - only her strange weapon, which had since been quite 'kinetically cleaned' by being blasted away. She dismisses her Keyblade, drawing off her hood and looking around. "Huh. Oh well! I bet that big explosion solved that problem. Now... Off to find a shower!" She exclaims, climbing up a nearby ladder, popping off the top, and walking cheerily out onto the street. To meet zombies.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Oh gosh darnit, it's like Port Royale all over again!"<br> <br>


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