Scene #7608: A Totally Normal Event Quest Haseo Does Not Get Crushed To Death In

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Sylvi	Haseo had been hearing about the somewhat elaborate Raven Sorceress event from in-game message boards, but there had been no GM post about it or other offical announcements. Instead, a Priscilla-like figure with a long-tailed gown of raven feathers that fell to either side of the shoulder more like wings than any cape and a beaked cowl that covers all but the bottom of her pale white chin. She hangs out around town being imposing, and passing out... Kill quests. All of the dialogue and interactions felt like those with an NPC, and the rewards for completing her quests were all of high value - rare items, large amounts of currency, event items from events that had long since passed, and other desireable grab-bag items. For about a week and a half this event has gone on, the Raven Sorceress popping up in a town or field, telling the people lucky enough to find her where she wanted them to go, some simple enemies would spawn, and then after a simple battle, the victors would return for their rich spoils. Groundswell had begun to get intense. There were petitions for the GMs to release the Raven Sorceress as a full event and allow for more people to participate in what is clearly a global event, while shitposters (who clearly had gotten in on the loot early) and faux patricians declared that such was the beauty of random field events. Of course, Haseo eventually found the Raven Sorceress all on his own in one of his favorite farming areas, standing besides a tree and looking off into the middle distance like NPCs do. It felt right that he was almost selected for such an opportunity. All that there was to do was to go to the field, kill the monsters, and come back. It really should have tipped him off that he was feeling good about this. DANGEROUS OBSESSIVE'S VENOM-FANG (well that's not an ominous field title at all...) ... finds Haseo in the same, box-ass corridors as usual. No monsters appear, but as he moves through a gate that appears like a ball-handled door in an SMT game, he stands facing a single wooden chair, back facing him, and Sylvi sitting splay-legged reversed in the chair, forearms on the back of the chair, smiling a little. "Hey." Sylvi breathes, before pausing to nasally inhale and take her time with it: "You talked ssshit, Haseo. Are you going to apologize, now? I told you how this goes. The whole series of events. You were right to fear clingy girls." Her fingers reach down to brush the back of the chair, and then grip into the wood. As her fingers curl without resistance, the pop of snapping wood becomes a high pitched squeal as air and then smoke are forced between her fingers. When she opens her hand again, a misshapen crystal lump clatters to the dungeon floor. "I'm the clingiest. So I took it kinda personal."
Haseo	Haseo is too stupid to figure out that this is an really elaborate trick. Besides, it's not like CC Corp wasn't known to run secret quests for players. There's the whole Abyss quest line, after all. It is a bit weird they'd be running a campaign like this given the current problems, but whatever. It's probably just a corporate trick to placate the masses, or whatever. Initially ecstatic to have finally found the SECRET COOL QUEST, Haseo's excitement turns to disappointment when the dungeon turns out to be the same recycled corridors from other dungeons, and his disappointment turns to dread when he opens a door to find Sylvi there. There are beads of cold sweat rolling down his forehead as he figures out why she's here, and her dialogue confirms it. The weirdo really is still upset about that, huh? "Haha. Yeah, I freaking get it. You want an apology? Well, sorry. Now piss off." He speaks in the same gruff and condescending tone, which completely betrays the loud voice in his head that's telling him to scream and run like a bitch. Instead, he just begins to turn around in a cool like fashion, attempting to head back out the way he came. Is it still running? Yes. But it looks a lot more cool if he leaves calmly like this than the alternative.
Sylvi	The look on Sylvi's face when his eyes lock with hers is -- ecstatic. For a moment, her whole face lights up like a mirror in the morning, facing a sunny window. Absolutely glowing... As she sees his joy turn to despair. "I was looking for you, Haseo! I had to knock over a few big names for the loot to pass out as quest rewards - hope they won't miss that stuff!" They will. Haseo turns to leave, and it's possible but achingly slow. Dragged at, he works the handle and swings wide the door-- "Dangerous. Obsessive's. Venom-Fang? You think that code was really in the game? The World is incredible. Those codes can take you anywhere. And you're using it just like the simple gay-mer you were before. This isn't the World you came from. You've dialed out." He throws wide the door, finally, and springs into what should be the same square corridors, and instead empties out into baroque stone-hewn stairs and a landing that dip into-- The great spread of degrading citadels and misty rivers. Bearded corpses rattle as sinewy warriors arm-wrestle skeletons and nearly everyone has a drinking stein or horn in hand. As the door opens, a few look up and cry out a greeting in old Norse as the gates of Hel yawn around his shoulders. Sylvi approaches Haseo from behind and shoves him down the stairs towards the lower landing, where the rocky features meet the gigantic entrance of an enormous longhouse building. A very-alive looking dead Norse man looks up from Jarlslouching in a throne at the back. "Oi there, Sylvi! Is this a hero of battle, or jus--" Sylvi, leg still in the just-thrust-kicked position, shouts down: "HE'S A GAY-MER, BALDR, DON'T GET UP!" The helmed warrior slouches deeper in his throne, looking depressed where once he was deeply excited. "When she tires of destroying your physical form and you finally perish, boy, I will get next round. You hear me, Sylvi???" He bangs his fist on the arm of his chair. "Next round!" Sylvi just laughs from the top of the stairs.
Haseo	As the GAY-MER opens the door and realizes he's no longer in The World, his face turns to that of visible panic, if only for the briefest of moments before he tries to hide his feelings once more. Just cover up the feeling of dread with a funny one-liner, that'll do it. "God freaking damnit, I hate gir-" Haseo's cut off as he's shoved down a flight of stairs, falling down with all the grace of someone in overly spikey anime armor. Which is to say, not very, as he even face plants against some of the steps on his way down into Hel. Honestly, he deserved that. Picking his body off the ground, he dusts himself off, not even turning around to pay attention to Baldr, but shouting to him anyway. "Shut the hell up, you freaking bloated sack of crap. I ain't dying. No way!" He doesn't sound fully convinced with himself, but with nowhere to run, he has no other options left to fight, because his words sure aren't going to get him anywhere. Unsheathing a scythe from his inventory, Haseo begins rushing towards Sylvi, red runes glowing over his body as he raises his weapon high. "SKEITH!" There's a flash of red, and Haseo disappears, an awkward silence playing before a single loud note blares. A massive being of black and gold appears behind Sylvi suddenly, holding a scythe in the same fashion Haseo was as it brings it down and swipes at them, aiming to hook the serpent girl by the torso with the weapon's blade and hurl them across the room and through several of its undead occupants. "Stop playing games already and let me out of here! I don't have time for you being a petty brat!"
Sylvi	'God freaking damnit, I hate gir-' "Oh, but I love you, Haseo! You're like my favorite idiot brother who I just need to drag, kicking and screaming, to greatness! Look at you!" The flash of red tears through the blues and golds and stone greys of Hel, and Skeith's runes fill with fire and power. Stronger than usual? Fiercer, at least. Sylvi just stands there laughing, at the top of the stairs, in exultant tones, dropping her leg and throwing her arms wide. "I won't do anything you won't do yourself, Haseo. Stop playing these pathetic video games and run wild. Conquer, consume, lay waste!" Hooked in by the scythe, her wide open arms close around Haseo for a moment -- right before she's flung. It feels like a hug, and surprisingly not bonecrushing! "Little brother, stop with the hobbies and start your career of violence!" Her arms swing free, and she tumbles, laughing uproariously as she careens through a crowd of wights and blights. A great plume of dust and bones and bits of mail fly up comically, ending with Sylvi reclining against a wall-smushed pile of debris and detritus. "I like that shape better. Isn't it stronger? Don't you feel better in it? You've fought hard for power like that!" Burst-launching from the pile of toku foam boulders and shattered bone, Sylvi leads with her left forearm towards Skeith-Haseo's throat while her right arm trails behind her. "So stop with the simpering bullshit while I'm talking about your future, 'Terror of Death' Haseo. Stop staring at your navel and look forward, or I'lltear out your eyes since you clearly aren't using them." That is when her other hand swings in bluntly to air-smash Skeith-Haseo back in through Baldr's longhouse and groundward.
Haseo	"Shutupshutupshutup..." The Terror of Death just calmly repeats the same two words over and over again, before suddenly snapping. "Just SHUT THE HELL UP about things you don't understand! You think I don't know the difference between the real world and reality? You think I need another therapist? Well guess what, I do know the difference, and I ain't looking for anymore people trying to fix me!" Haseo's feeling a type of anger he hasn't felt at Sylvi's word that he hasn't felt in a long time, and he swears his vision is starting to darken as his heart starts to sink, and something else is trying to claw its way up to take its place. It's probably just the aneurysm he's getting from Sylvi's big sister complex. Bursting out of the cloud to grab Skeith by the neck, it reaches to tries and wrap its large fingers around her as it lets out a deep monstrous chuckle. It's stopped short of doing so however as she delivers a shockwave inducing punch into it, sending it somersaulting through the air as it leaves behind a trail of rock-like texture flakes. Crashing through the longhouse in a disfigured heap and leaving behind a massive crater in the flooring, Haseo's just realizing that this fight seems pretty hopeless. He doesn't want to die, but there really doesn't feel like there's an alternative. Turning his head to the side inside his weird Ultraman Hammerspace Realm, he notices a pair of three glowing orbs staring at him. FOUND YOU AGAIN There's a scream, but no one can hear him. Skeith gets up without his say so, grabbing its head as it snaps it back into place. Sylvi's probably keen enough to pick up that the body language is now completely different from Haseo's. A lot more natural and less like a man moving a puppet. It picks up its scythe and looks up, disappearing and reappearing, this time not from behind however, but from the front to deliver a kick to send her flying, only to phase in and out again to hook her with its scythe and send her hurdling in another direction. Like a child playing with its food, it pinballs Sylvi around a bit more before teleporting above her, delivering a powerful axehandle smash to her back to send her hurdling down. Skeith doesn't bother following this time however, instead holding its hand out. Several holographic panels appear around the outstretched appendage, as the distinct sound of charging can be heard.
Sylvi	Someone can hear him. Just past the realm within Skeith a looming vastness looks down with a queer fondness for the struggling Haseo. In the physical plane, Skeith loses the puppeteer's strings and begins to go B E A S T M O D E. It's terribly effective, except for how little Sylvi reacts to it. Pinballing around, she ragdolls through this and that, smashing through a thick wooden column and being buried in a cloud of flinders and the creaking crater as Skeith charges up a finishing shot. From nicks and scrapes and scorched impressions on her skin, thin ribbons of oilslick rainbows dribble. The shimmering liquid reveals the subtle scale patterns at the outside of her skin - the sharkskin diamond-layering catching and forking the path of her colorful blood. "I see what's going on." She mutters, wiping off her brow from a forehead cut that annoyed her with its dripping. "What you're really afraid of. Not even the shame, but something you justified to yourself." A set of grasping fingers made entirely out of the dark slatestone of Hel's rock, reaches up to grip Skeith-Skeith in an earthen fist. Sylvi rises with it, dusting herself off and tisking at the tatters of her clothes. "Now, you see, Haseo - little brother, you're family. But that thing you're borrowing powers from isn't." Leaping from crater to the earthen forearm, and then climbing from there in two arm-bounds up to Skeith in the earthy tomb. She draws back to smash in Skeith's head with a forceful chop of her hand-- INSIDE THE ULTRAMAN SKEITHSPACE-- Haseo finds an arm reaching through a crack in the world, for him to grab -- or get found like a fumbling hand looking for the remote, his choice -- and be carried back into the fore of control. With a splitting headache, potentially, but it's just a rubbersuit, they're just sparks, it's fine. Totally.
Haseo	Skeith is interrupted, now held in place as the weird panels on its arms disperse. It could get out. It SHOULD get out. But it doesn't, instead it lets out another deep rumble that one could generously call a laugh, even as Sylvi smashes a hand straight through its head. It's like Skeith views this as a game, and this is totally a 'GG' moment. INSIDE ULTRA SKEITHSPACE -- Haseo's currently screaming into the void, trying to regain semblance of control. Unfortunately, Skeith isn't letting him have that, and he's really close to just curling up in a ball and waiting for all of this to be over. Before he fully gives up, he notices a hand break through Skeithspace, catching him off guard until he realizes who it is. Sylvi wasn't kidding when she said she's the clingiest, did she? Haseo shakes his head of the thought, now's not the time for thoughts like that. He desperately scrambles over towards the invading appendage, his hand firmly grabbing hold of her wrist. While Skeith can't stop Sylvi from pulling Haseo back into control, it can at least flail back in retaliation. Reaching into Ultra Skeithspace results in her getting hit with a wave of everything that Skeith is. Murderous intent and child-like cruelty. It feels like a scythe digging into her backside, but like, conceptual. Not physical. Which makes it worse because people don't get conceptual scars. OUTSIDE OF SKEITHSPACE -- Once back in control, Haseo reverts to his usual self, shaking and gasping from suddenly losing and gaining control like he just did. At the very least, he has two strong earth arms to keep him from falling down and eating shit.
Sylvi	Murderous intent. Childlike cruelty. Thrashing violence. These things fall upon Sylvi, and pass through her. To these franting emotions she is as water. 'You poor, sssad thing. I underssstand you.' A rattle-throated voice hisses into the Skeithspace. 'You and the boy are the sssame. One, and greater. Do not fight for control - agree, and grow, and blend, and then you will command all that you are and sssurpasss one and lessser's limitsss.' The earth dwindles and diminishes down, until Haseo and Sylvi stand at 'ground' level, at the bottom of the stairs down from the '''side''' gate Sylvi had used. The great kingdom of twilight extends outwards as a comic expanse, with a main gate still creakingly used by a scant few, and a whole society of the dead milling about in the lower areas. This, some royal quarter, appeared in its highest reaches. Hopefully, from a pile, Baldr's skull calls up: "DO I GET A TURN NOW?" Sylvi sighs, helping Haseo-Haseo to his by pulling him up by the wrist with a smile. "No, Baldr, you don't." She shoulder-bumps Haseo lightly. "You doing better? I'm not trying to ride your dick or anything, little brother, but you've got a wide whole world to grind your powers in, and good powers besides. Stop fucking around in the tutorial area and throw your weight around. It'll make both of you feel good."
Haseo	Sylvi is pretty sure that Skeith is giving her massive deuces with all the exaggerated swagger of a ten year old Japanese child right before she leaves the Skeithzone for good. Which means its probably taken her advice to heart. Totally. In reality, Haseo nearly falls over from the shoulder bump, stumbling a few steps away from Sylvi to keep his balance as he's still catching his breath. Despite that, he seems to be recovering pretty quickly, his eyes aren't bugging out anymore from shock, at the very least. "Sure, yeah, 'better'. My chest still feels like it's in the Mariana Trench but I guess I'm alright." His voice is lacking its usual edge, and he seems completely unphased by the joking mention of sex. Whether this means he's completely out of it or doing a bit better is completely unclear though. "Wait, I thought this was about the sister thing, not about my Field choices? I'm getting mixed messages here... Well, uh, whatever. Sure."
Sylvi	"Oh, I was mad at you for saying stupid shit on the radio against groups I identified with. Clingy girls. Crazy ladies. That sort of stuff. You work with powerful people, and they have their vices, little brother. Me? I like crushing things." She laughs, moving to sit at the stairs. "But while trying to get at you, get you invested, I learned how powerful this world is at getting to other places. The field gates go places. They went here, to Hel. You grind away at events that are dangled in front of you, when just inside you is the power of a digital titan. You and it seem perfect for each other: but it's not my little brother, and you are. I'm willing to accept it into the family too, but it's doing a shitty job of proving itself - and you're being brought down because of it. I say, it's within you? It's your power. You should be strong enough to contain your own full might - and I think you're starving yourself in these events when you could be feasting in the streets. A real terror of death. I see that in you, little brother, so it just makes me... Angry when you don't live up to your talents. When you hide in your hole and snap and hiss. It's unbecoming, it's pathetic. You're better, and this looking down is old." Sylvi snorts, looking up at the darkness that the cieling disappears into. "Your steps should be sure by now. Your navel is explored. Become, and stop waiting for it to be handed to you. Sometimes it will be - but don't wait for it."
Haseo	"My power mirrors its power or whatever. Basically, I get stronger, it gets stronger. That's why I do the stupid grinding thing. Though it's not technically mine, it's CC Corp property. They're just bad at holding on to it, apparently." Haseo just kind of ignores the clingy girl talk, because anything that comes out of his mouth about that is just going to get him in trouble again. It's easier to just speak about things he knows. "Also of course it's not family, it's just a bunch of 1's and 0's from a game. It's my tool, not a person, and I'm pretty sure it feels the same way. Or maybe something similar. Not like we can talk anyway, so who knows." With his shaking and breathing fully back to normal, his eyes are now darting around the place. No clear exit still. Damn. Gotta keep talking. "And I ain't hiding. I'm just building something stronger on top of a weak foundation, or something like that. Just gotta like, keep building until it's gone, you know? ... Cause I sure freaking don't. It sounds a lot worse putting it into words, but don't worry about it." Finally giving up, Haseo joins Sylvi to sit down on the steps, opting to remain silent on the last thing she said. Best to just let words like that sit, or something like that.
Sylvi	"Oh, so that's why you're a petulant child still. I'm glad, though: It means if I toughen you up you'll both benefit. That's great to hear. CC Corp property, huh?" Sylvi leans over. "Are you a corporate whore, Haseo? It's your power, linked to your growth, in your body, and you decide how it's used. The power is a part of you, and you are not owned." Sylvi scoffs, leaning back. "Why are you trashing on your own power, doofus? Your body is made out of knowledge too, in letters. Are you a stupid idiot? Are you a moron? You're insulting the digital and the flesh both. I'm saying you should be bolder. You are already plenty strong. Your power is a good size-" She snort-snickers. "-and it's nothing to be ashamed of. If you hate your weak nature, give it to Skeith, and let it express its power as your body instead. It should be simple - it's just ones and zeroes, genius. I'm sure you can figure it out. If your foundation is shitty, it's always going to be shitty. Level the lot. Start fresh with good material. It's why bodies rebuild themselves - because growth doesn't stop." She looks down at the shattered area, the craters and broken columns and the undead who pick themselves back together out of piles of parts and debris, which slowly returns to normal. There are guffaws as heads are accidentally exchanged and general japery returns to the area. "You've gotta do something you like, and purge out what you hate. Then you'll be invincible." She rolls her expression to gesture with her shoulder and chin. "The exit's out by the gate at the top of the steps unless you wanna demolish Baldr in Melty."