Scene #6954: The Dark Multiverse: The House of M

Owner	Pose
Kupot	Places like these exist only briefly. Failed worlds, too corrupted to stand on their own. Worlds that form, fester, then collapse. This world is like those. An abcess on the multiverse. They are usually too brief and self contained to come to anyone's attention. It troubles perhaps a few people, then devours itself. This world has a gate. And through that gate, people have been lost. No one who goes into this speck of a reality comes back out. Only single pictures and rumors. A rumor of the House of M. And the grand house it is, built on a family fortune. ------ The reality is one block. A single block. There is a night sky, but it could be a mere illusion. A full moon hangs within it. The street is home to a neat dozen of colonial Georgian style homes, each of them lovingly draped in Christmas lights, strings of simple single colors, filament bulbs. An inch of snow lies on the lawns and sidewalks and bushes, streets having been well plowed. It is a cherry Christmas style. If it were not for the House of M.
Kupot	The House of M is what you have come here for. Perhaps for the rumors of a family fortune within. Perhaps for the rumors of those who come here endlessly to die. Perhaps, simply, out of curiosity, for this tiny universe that stands a mere block(though a fairly large block). The House of M has perhaps the most lights of all. Single strings of lights, the filament type, the type where a single bulb burned out ruins the entire string, line three stories of every blackened window. Lights sit amid bushes, a fanciful, time consuming, and costly arrangement. Two front porch lamps have festive red bows tied to them, and a solemn angel statue stands guard next to the front door. Though well lit, the house is foreboding. To a casual observer, it seems festive, though empty. But some can see the heavy bars on most of the windows from the inside. A subtle sheen of magical defenses over those windows as well. There are only three modes of obvious entrance. The front door, festive with a wreath and brightly lit, at the top of a set of stately stairs, it's knob marked with a stately 'M' that gives the mansion its name. A back door, equally festively lit. A chicago-style basement door at the bottom of a flight of stairs.
Sumiko	This failed universe was quite...homely. Christmas lights all around, though the street is darkened by the lack of a major city that would be usually around such a place. The moon hung over in the night sky, staring down at the Magical Girl of Envy. She stared, with her eyes focused on the main prize. Sure, the adventure would be fun...but the prize that she was told about. The money, was why she was here. Walking down the streets, hearing the sounds of her own footsteps and her own breathing. It was quiet, too much so for a city girl like her. However, she presses on, Mikoto walking up to the door and considering it. The defenses of this place were impressive for just being a failed universe. Something was definitely up here, but what? Well, she wouldn't get anywhere by standing outside all day. So she simply knocks on the door. She waits the appropriate amount of time for a response, knocking a second and third time. If nobody actually shows up to open the door, she attempts to open it herself. It was just impolite to not at least knock if the house was actually owned by someone who lived here.
Abigail Barton	A strange house where people go missing normally wouldn't be on Abigail's radar. She's not in the business of saving people nor is she in the business of investigating strange places, but it's been a while since she really got her name out there and... Well. No time like the present to start getting herself out there again. In retrospect, though, it probably would have made more sense to go somewhere less... Weird. Perhaps a hit on a big name target, one that's well-defended to shake things up, but this? It made more sense at the time she thought to even show up than it does now. Still, what's done is done, and Abigail arrives at the strange block with a walking cane clutched tightly in one hand as she limps along the block. Her leg doesn't actually hurt or anything, but there's no reason she can't have her own surprises in store of her own. Then again, the House of M already has some odd secrets for the bespectacled office worker-looking lady to look into already. Sure, it looks innocently festive enough, but closer inspection has her squinting at the bars on the windows. "Can't get in that way..." She comments aloud idly, adjusting her glasses once before dragging herself towards the front door. "If this place is as dangerous as it sounds, though, then the front should be the easiest way to get things started." She knocks on the door with her cane a few times, standing off to the side as Mikoto does the same.
Staren	People are disappearing. But are they truly gone? Or can they be saved? Staren is here to find out. He expected that the way in would be easy; After all, people have been /disappearing/. They have to /go somewhere/. However, the house's defenses make getting in rather difficult. So Staren circles the house, sends drones around, searching with night vision for tracks or other evidence of how those who came before made ingress.
Gaonoir	A warpgate that essentially leads nowhere. Investigators seemingly disappear, never to be heard or seen again. A deceptively normal and uniform looking location for a dying piece of reality. Sounds like a conspiracy! And/Or a mystery. Very likely both. And what's a mystery without meddling kids? Or an appropriate approximation. As soon as she's stepped out of the gate Erika is snapping pictures of the unexpectantly pleasant looking block, having even brought an actual camera instead of relying on her smartphone/digivice. "Not quite what I was expecting for a 'dead' world, to be honest... but one has to wonder where the decorations came from if no one lives here. Good atmosphere for a mysterious urban legend about treasures and disappearances though." Almost immeadiately Gaonoir's hackles are on end and the digimon is in front of his partner with gloved paws clenched. "Appearances are rarely as they appear. It's all a deception as far as we know. Misleading sense of security to get people off their guard." His moment of being dark and edgy foreboading is ruined when Erika grabs his shoulders with one arm, and uses the other hand to switch to her smartphone for a quick selfie snap. "Ugh, if you're going to make me drag you along, at least take it seriously!" "I am," Erika retorts as she stands and straightens her glasses. "It's called documentation. We can't prove the mystery if we don't record it!" Gaonoir grumbles a bit, rolling his eyes as she does have a point, and grabs her arm to keep her from wandering off before they even get to the main house. "Fine. Let's just get this investigation done with. This place is giving me the creeps, and that's saying something."
Shyra	Shyra isn't one to go out for a walk alone. She never actually did. She was following around some other people and ended up accidentally taking the wrong Gate. One thing led to another, and now she's here, in this dark but incredibly cheery place. She had heard tales of worlds that swallow people up, for them to never return.... Could this be one of those places? Diffidently, the pink healer looks around, trying to find something to latch onto, something familiar. There is a growing concern in her expression as she toes about through the snow, looking for someone... Hello? Is anyone there? She asks... It's the drones that tip her off first. The circling robots get her attention, and she almost falls over in surprise. Eep! But as she peers around the corner, she notices the armored cat-man, Staren. Ah... could it be...? She shuffles forward and timidly reaches out, likely being repulsed by the shield generator. Um.... Excuse me? Good Knight, are you investigating this area? I seem to be lost...
Staren	Staren's forcefield has to be turned on and off; being kept on all the time would burn out its emitters, so Shyra's hand approaches uninhibited. Staren's eyes look from the text box to her to her hand, like he's not quite sure what to do with it. "Knight? I'm Staren... I research and solve problems." He shakes the hand. "Including the problem of death. Nice to make your acquaintance, Shyra the Holy Healer." He looks between her and the house. "It's unfortunate that you've gotten lost /here/. But then, so have a lot of people, apparently. I'm here to find them. To see if it is not too late to save them." He waves a hand dismissively. "There's also a treasure or something, but that's obviously a trap."
Kupot	It is stark and quiet here. Homely yes, but Mikoto notices that other problem. Devoid of life. It seems that almost no one is here. In fact, there doesn't seem to be anything. Nothing alive. Nothing breathing. No birds, no deer, no distant sounds of cars. Just... nothing. Mikoto makes her way up the stairs side by side with Abigail. It takes years to expertly smoothe and lay ice. Not just to lay it, but lay it so perfectly, that it looks completely invisible. Like a thin sheet of glass. Both Mikoto and Abigail take their first step onto the iced stair way and put their weight on the feet. And both have their feet fly out from underneath them as they find themselves with no traction. Both nearly fly onto their backs, hammering their legs against stairs, but snatch the guard rail of the stairs and are able to pull themselves back up to the front door, where the ice ends. The green door stands there. At the sound of the knock, nothing. Again. Again. Mikoto tries the door knob, with the titular 'M' monogrammed on it. Mikoto finds the doorknob to be hot. Not merely hot. Conducting a flesh searing level of heat. The smell of roasting pork quickly fills the porch. Staren's drones begin to fly around. There seems to be four egresses, as previously mentioned. A basement door, a front door, a back door, and window where the magic and steel protection has faded. In addition, the drones spot a small figure, perhaps a toddler, riding on a tricycle, but only briefly.
Shyra	The feeling of the heavy powered armor is strage to Shyra, but she doesn't mull on it. She taps on it for a moment, bemused, before her hand pulls back. ... Oh! You are the famous Staren? She immediately perks up, clasping her staff. That is wonderful! Allow me to help you on your quest to find those missing people! =============================== \| SHYRA has joined the Party! \| =============================== Dutifully, Shyra falls in right behind Staren, following him whereever he begins going. This place seems so peaceful... But also something about it scares me. I can't put a finger on it... If this place is trapped to lure innocent people to their doom, it must be stopped! The sound of the nearby crashing and the scent of burned flesh rises, and Shyra gasps. It sounds like someone is in trouble, Staren! Should we help them?
Sumiko	It is a problem, Mikoto goes flying off the stairs, right as she's about to land... She suddenly stops falling. This is because of the power of NANOHA that she had borrowed from the elder magical girl. Of course, she only just had enough time to save herself from a painful scrap, allowing herself to float back and over the ice and towards the door itself. As she reaches for the door, the heat from it is noticeable before she grips it, drawing her hand back as she stares at the thing. Her hand reaches out to grab the jade sword as she looks annoyed at this petty attempt to kill her. She strikes as hard as she can, attempting to separate the door's hinges from the frame with a very quick slash into the opposing side of the door itself. She could try and tap on Riku's power...but decides to save it. Especially with the defenses here, and the fact this place was unstable, it might be a bad idea.
Gaonoir	Gaonoir stops as the two girls approach the front steps, using his grip on Erika's arm to keep her from following. Instead they watch as the duo nearly slip and fall, get no response out of knocking, and Gaonoir scrunches his nose at the smell coming from touching the heated doorknob. "See what I was saying about deceptive appearances?" Erika murmurs something softly, thumb-flicking her smartphone over to a PDA app and quickly tapping 'Location is boobytrapped' in her notes. "Should we see if there's another way in? Though it's probably also booby-trapped." "We're likely going to have to risk it either way." Gaonoir keeps his grip firm to make sure she follows him, and goes around the House of M until he spots the basement doorway.... Wait, are those steps also iced? Gaonoir snorts, holds onto Erika to take her with him, and shadowsteps down to the basement door to not risk the steps. Seems like as good of a 'Let's Split Up Gang' moment as any other.
Abigail Barton	Three kids, a dog, and a robot. Abigail peers at each person that's arrived to investigate the House of M, Shyra in particular when she communicates via those strange text boxes appearing in her field of vision. Abigail tests it briefly by taking off her glasses and closing her eyes, then lets out a brief 'huh' before realizing that the stairs are more nefarious than they first appeared. Luckily, Abigail was moving pretty slowly to begin with on top of being quite skilled at maneuvering, so at least she doesn't bang her knees up too badly. It still stings like a son of a bitch, though, and it helps her act like it hurts far more than it should considering that she's still got that cane on her. "How rude... Tch. Certainly not as bad as it could have been, but if I was an older person..." She murmurs while looking around the doorway, not noticing Mikoto's own predicament with the knob. "Must be preparing dinner. At least they're expecting guests." She comments idly once again while rubbing her knee, scanning the entryway for other potential deathtraps now that she's actually on guard for them. Precariously placed icicles, suspiciously inconvenient foot stools at neck-breaking height, that sort of thing. She does step back to Mikoto space when she switches to door-crashening duty, though, holding one hand up in an acknowledging wave to Gaonoir and Erika as they speak of checking other entrances.
Staren	Staren sends a drone to follow the toddler, but action starting inside forces him to action. "Yes. Keep Mikoto healed as best you can; her soul depends on it." He hands Shyra a vial of liquid from his bag; it tastes airy, somehow. "Use flight to avoid the ice." Then he heads onward himself, flying inside and up the stairs to reunite the party.
Kupot	The searing hot knob hisses and spits in the ice as the door comes crashing down, hastily carved from the doorway by Mikoto's force. The inside of the house is not as warm and inviting as it was outside. The lights are on, and the shades give everything a sort of ephemeral dreaminess. But inside, the place is immediately seen as a death trap. There is a foyer with barbed wire over the ground. The ground is littered with what appear to be die cast small cars. Just beyond the foyer is a landing for the stairs to the second floor, with the bottom floor splitting off to either side and beyond the stairs. It is hard to see anything from the doorway. The drone passes across the outside of the house, but the toddler figure only passes by the upper landing of the stairs before disappearing entirely. Gaonoir gets down to the very bottom. And even there, he takes an uneasy skid, but is able to push both feet to the narrow doorway and keep from falling over. As he guessed, the stairs here are equally well iced, but bypassing the lot of them prevents any slipping. The door does not radiate any heat. Finally, as the majority of the group stands back up at the front, rather than splitting up, a rough raspy voice, somewhat flat, hisses out from the second floor of the house. "Hello. Do you want to play a game?"
Staren	"No." Staren answers, immediately. "Give them back, or your continued existence lacks merit."
Sumiko	Mikoto looks sideways at Staren, "See this is what people mean, Staren." She flys slowly inside, attempting to avoid the obvious traps while looking for the non-obvious ones just in case. "Hi, I'm Mikoto...my friend is very forward. Anyway, what kind of game are you wanting to play? Also, what is your name? And what happened to the others that came here? Sorry, I don't mean to throw so many questions at you."
Gaonoir	It's a little slick at the bottom but as they are materializing directly on it rather than from the downward momentum of descending the stairs Gaonoir has the chance to dig his rear claws in for traction, and hold onto his Tamer to keep her steady. He snorts softly. "I think it's safe to say there's not going to be a way that's not trapped somehow. Be careful." But there's a small chance they might go unnoticed for a bit while everyone else is focused by the front door, and that's fine. Erika holds a hand close to the door without touching it, and shakes her head. "Doesn't feel hot." "Still, let's be careful." Gaonoir warily takes the lead, reaching for the knob to see if the door is unlocked. If it is (and not hot) he'll just opening the door.. If it is locked, then some Superior Strength can be applied to force it open. They're trying to be stealthy and cautious but at the same time, Gaonoir isn't afraid to throw his weight around if it's required.
Kupot	Pause. Then, "It's time to play a game." Another longer pause. "I am the man you call Jigsaw." Another pause. "How much blood will you shed to stay alive?"
Abigail Barton	"That's one way to get inside. It looks unsafe in there, though. Obviously unsafe, even." Looking inside once Mikoto gets that door open, Abigail narrows her eyes when the traps are all too obvious. She gives the cars and barbed wire some experimental nudges with her cane, trying to nudge them off against the walls or into a corner if she can. What she focuses on isn't the floor, though. Instead, her attention is drawn towards the ceiling and walls, still looking for things that could easily fall and kill or maim someone. The voice coming from the second floor, though, gets her attention rather quickly. "What kind of game would you like to play? Are you the owner of this mansion?" She asks with a polite smile, clearly not smiling out of any sense of fondness or anything more than proper decorum. She keeps one hand in her coat pocket while the other stays on her cane, heading up the stairs slowly and bracing herself for whatever's in store when the man mentions bloodshed. "... Must it be our blood?"
Shyra	Shyra immeidately drinks the potion and begins floating off the ground! Whee! She exclaims happily, floating along behind Staren as he swoops up the stairs to join the others! The moment she does so, Shyra raises her cross-topped staff and proclaims, HEAL A moment later, green sparkles cascade over Abigail and Mikoto, soothing minor wounds and relieving pain. Green numbers pop up over them with appropriate amounts. Is everyone okay? she asks, immediately and literally hovering around the group to watch them carefully for any more injuries... When the entity speaks from above. He hands fly to her mouth in a shocked expression as she says, G.... Game? W... Who is asking to play a game? J... jigsaw? Blood? But I don't want to shed any blood...
Kupot	The door opens for Gaonoir with a heavy burst of hinges. It was stuck fast, but not locked. The basement is... a basement. Dark. Laundry appliances, covered in grime from not being used in ages, a laundry chute. To the west, a stair way to the rest of the house. To the east, though. An ancient furnace. The kind that requires wood and gas. It begins to rumble, red coals building to life within it, two cast iron grills moving across it. As the red light fills the room, one can see two skeletons strapped to the ancient heating device, one relatively short, one gangly and tall. The furnace roars to life with a shrieking like tearing metal and an almost animal hateful scream.
Staren	"All of yours. If you're one of those fools who believes I spare all villains just because I can cheat death, you will shortly be disillusioned." Staren draws his matter manipulator and starts tearing apart any walls or ceilings between him and the voice. If that doesn't work, out come the heavy weapons.
Sumiko	"The hell is a jigsaw?" She asks nobody in particular, but Staren starts taking apart the house. Ok then, she floats back away from in front of him to behind him and letting him do his thing. "Yeah ok, the blood thing is creepy. Stop being creepy. Also insane, it's a bad thing to be a murderer."
Staren	"It's a kind of puzzle." Staren replies to Mikoto. "You know, the kind where you have a thousand pieces with lumps that fit into eachother and they make a picture?"
Sumiko	"So this guy likes puzzels, but except if there is blood involved. Spooky," Mikoto says still hovering behind Staren.
Kupot	Abigail skillfully pushes aside the barbed wire trap and carefully manuevers over it. The trap is an obvious one, but not for someone in a hurry. Abigail carefully moves forward, into the landing. To the west, a family room, with a Christmas(one assumes) in the corner, a dusty couch, and a piano. To the west, a fine family dining room, all set out, two angel candle holders standing over what appears to be a plate of macaroni and cheese. Abigail makes it to the stairs. Unfortunately, her glance at the ceiling and stairs misses one minor detail. A paint can, wrapped in rusty barbed wire, weighted with lead, hanging from a chain, comes down from the stairs at a heady pace, clipping her once. Staren thankfully, comes in from behind, blasting away much of the railing and the stairs, destroying what appears to be several more weighted paint cans.
Kupot	Pause. A bit of static this time, then from up in the second floor, a man's voice also somewhat flattened. "Help! Someone, help me! Is someone there? Hey! Oh, shit, I'm probably dead."
Staren	"Yeah, but they're not a very interesting /kind/ of puzzle, are they? You're just fitting lumps into holes. And there's only one solution. Given his focus on blood, he just likes the name because it has the word 'saw' in it, and wasn't creative enough to come up with a nickname based on a GOOD kind of puzzle." The new voice shuts up his quipping for a moment. He just keeps trying to reach the second floor.
Shyra	Shyra is completely flabbergasted at what she's seeing in this place. It's spooky! And seemingly designed to just inflict pain on people! She floats along, continuing to follow Staren around as he has been designated party leader. As Staren gets out his weaponry and starts smashing his way towards the voice, Shyra gasps. B... Be careful! There is no telling what might happen in this place of unclean spirits! Already, she is looking over her shoulder warily. Enough that she misses everything when Abigail gets clipped. Oh! Are you all right, miss? She gasps, and immediately deploys healing once again, more green sparkles washing over Abigail to try to salve the wounds she sustains. This might pose a logistical problem to someone trying to bleed everyone out.
Sumiko	Mikoto looks up towards the upper levels. "Hey, can you hear me? Where are you?" Mikoto shouts up but does not actually go up on her own, instead, she sticks with Staren. The flattened tone seems to indicate that it's probably a radio and that it's probably a trap. Her sword is gripped in her hand, making a motion to Shyra to not rush upstairs.
Gaonoir	"Knock knock," Gaonoir deadpans -after- he's forced the door open. A step in, and they're not immeadiately accousted by more traps, so he warily continues inside with Erika close behind him. She's already switched back to her camera, fiddling with the settings to contend with the dank dimness of the basement. She finally holds it up to her face, only to pause when it zooms in on the two skeletons strung up by the ancient furnace. "Okay, -that- is pretty disturbing." Not that it stops her from taking a picture, camera flash briefly illuminating the haunting display. "Do you think they're real, or some kind of prop?" But before the duo can investigate that, the furnance so to speak comes to life. Iron grates clatter, the red glow of heat flaring within. Ductwork rattles around them as the hulking ancient furnance lets out a fiery demonic roar! Erika squeaks as she takes a step back, startled, but not shocked to the point that she forgets about taking her documentation pictures. "A haunted heating appratus! That's different!" If anything she sounds a little impressed like the nerd of weird things she is. Gaonoir's ears lay back, snout curling with a fang baring sneer. Gloved paws clench, legs flex at the ready, eyes narrow as he retorts with his own howling roar. Thanks to his influence over wind and by it sonic forces, it's actually a pretty intense roar despite his stout somewhat cartoonish stature in his base form.
Kupot	Staren gets a good look at the second floor landing. And he notices what appears to be a thin plastic film, covered in some sort of sticky substance. He gets a glance sideways at a what appears to be a very large fan. It sits in front of a large box on the landing of feathers dipped in a lightly caustic substance. The 'toddler' disappears into a rather spacious master bedroom, door closing behind.
Abigail Barton	They're like those memory games with cards. Some of it is just luck in finding the right pieces first among the massive jumble to whittle it all down." Abigail adds to the discussion of Jigsaw's name, stroking her chin lightly after a moment. "Although the jig part... Perhaps he enjoys dancing." And barbed wire, apparently. Even after clearing the stuff off the floor, the orange-haired lady winces when that paint can comes falling and draws blood from her face. Pressing her palm into the wound, she glances back towards Shyra while smiling that polite smile again. "Thank you again, madame healer. I'll be fine. I've got an idea in mind if things are going to keep going this way, so... Yes, don't rush. Leave that to..." The others are already going ham, so she might as well add her own insanity to the mix while the getting's good. "The rest of us, I guess." Taking her hand out of her coat pocket finally, she brings with it a grappling hook! Said hook is tossed upwards towards the upper floor, but she doesn't pull herself up right away. Instead, she keeps trudging up those stairs at that same old lady-like pace, but anyone behind her can see something curious happening. That barbed wire paint can that struck Abigail earlier is floating behind her. On closer inspection, though, there's a translucent orange blob coming out of the back of her coat, engulfing the can and carrying it behind her. She may have something planned for that or the grappling hook, but for now? She'll just focus on getting up the stairs and not rushing herself or anyone else to find out what that voice is. "If someone's up there, there's several of us coming. Do not be alarmed."
Kupot	The thick wrought iron furnace reacts to Gaonoir's show of force. For a moment, both heat and noise battle against the roar. But as Gaonoir's mighty roar climbs in volume, the sound of the furnace is drowned out completely, and finally, the furnace goes completely black once more, shutting its heavy gates and going dormant.
Staren	Just to be sure, Staren blasts at the fan with a particle beam and tries to cut down the plastic film with his beam sword. He looks around. "Unless you're playing games with people's lives. Then you should be very alarmed." Staren deploys another drone and sends it after the 'toddler' suspiciously. There are undoubtedly more traps here, and he's not entirely sure he'll spot them all. The drone finds a closed door and no visible traps. Staren looks at the hallway that may or may not be trapped for a moment. "Mikoto, can you send some sort of large animal ahead of us? Like a bull in a booby trap shop."
Kupot	Prepared and steady, Abigail carefully scales the rather destroyed by Staren stairs. Overly cautious, perhaps, as the stairs do not contain grease, or miniature cars, but rightfully so, and ascends to the second floor. Staren cuts down the glue trap. An odd trap, though one can see the feathers are tinged with some sort of red powder on them. It has a distinct smell of caustic. Embarrassing and painful. The hallway SEEMS clear. In that it is a short hallway and there doesn't appear to be any visible traps. There are several closed doors before one reaches the master bedroom.
Sumiko	"Heh, sure!" Mikoto says and flies up to the second floor. Her blade thrusts into the ground as the magic circle forms around her. In front of her phantasmal boars come out of the circle and start charging down the hall. Any traps that can be triggered like that will likely trigger, more than that they aim to start ramming any door along the way to bash them all open.
Staren	Once it comes to ramming the door, Staren calls out, "We're breaking the door down now."
Sumiko	"That was the plan, rather you said to or not!" Mikoto reports.
Staren	Staren rolls his eyes. "Just in CASE that shape we followed was someone innocent now leaning against the other side of the door."
Gaonoir	Erika lowers her camera and looks at her partner with awe. "Did.. did you just -shout- it into submission?" Gaonoir rubbed his mouth clean with the back of a glove. "Intimidation is best countered with intimidation." Gaonoir turned to approach the stairs up to the rest of the house, still being wary of possible traps. "I fought a war against demons. I've seen worse." "You can't deny that was pretty intense until you shut them down," Erika replies as she follows. "Whatever mysterious force is behind this place is, if nothing else, dedicated to the craft of scaring the shit out of people." "Yes." Gaonoir acknowledges that. "It definately would be effective against the unexpecting. Let's go find the other group, maybe they've learned more by now."
Abigail Barton	Abigail leaves the grappling hook there for now as she continues on her merry way, hobbling along a fair distance behind the charging boars. Before continuing further into the hallway and getting to the doors themselves, though, Abigail takes a pen and notepad out of her coat pocket to start jotting notes down. "Interesting... Very interesting. Hm. Mister Jigsaw, if you're still here, we'd like to speak with you. Otherwise..." She pauses, glancing around again to see if there's any cameras recording their movements. If she spots one, she'll stare right at it and jerk a thumb back at the not-basement crew. "I don't expect that they'll be as patient with you as I am if you continue playing these games. Unless you have something more..." She glances over at Mikoto and Staren in particular. "... Suited to their talents." Shyra gets an apologetic smile, at least. "Are you holding up alright? You don't seem quite like... That type." Another jerk back of her thumb for emphasis.
Shyra	Shyra seems content to float behind the Heavily Armored Staren. As Staren breaks everything in front of him like an implacable metal-clad sciencecat, the healer wafts along and keeps an eye out for the next potential problem or deadly trap! She seems quite happy with her work keeping people intact and not bleeding out all over the place, though. Shyra smiles back to Abigail, and she shakes her head. Everything is fine! I know I'm not the strongest or the smartest. We all have our own talents, and it takes working together to solve a quest! She smiles at that, and nods. So have no fear. As long as we are working together, I'll be happy to salve your wounds.
Kupot	Mikoto takes the indirect route. It's a rather short hallway. Well, in mansion terms. The bedrooms can be as big as some people's apartments. The master suite is lavish by many standards. The ground rumbles with what is a full on stampede. The sound is thunderous and the racket mighty as the boars pound forward. The master bedroom, however, appears to be one of the enchanted doors, made defensive against the thieves in the multiverse more inclined to magic. The door breaks off its hinges, but stands mostly upright. More importantly, however, the boars break through several tripwires along the way. The doors on either side of the hallway burst open as the tripwires are snapped and full on flamethrowers blow flames into phantom boars. The flames last rather...inordinately long. Enough to skeletonize a man, perhaps even a superhuman, before they run out of fuel. There is a long pause before the flattened sound answers Abigail, "Live or die. Make your choice." Downstairs, Gao exits the dark room, a good barrier for Erika from the horrible traps. Unfortunately for him, the stairs are steep. Not just steep, but covered in a thick tar. Each step requires a slow and steady pull to release from the tar, then a deliberate step upward. Which makes it a good position for 2 inches of rusty nail, painted with tar to be completely black and dark, to drive right into Gao's foot. The powerful armor of the digimon makes it far less debilitating than it would be for anyone else.
Sumiko	"Good news, nobody triggered the flame throwers while we were in there. The bad, This whole ordeal is going to lower property values for a while!" The blade comes back into her hand as she dives in towards the unopening door aiming to do to it like what she did to the front door, trying to just bash it off of its hinges.
Gaonoir	Even if not scary per say, you have to give that trap credit for being sinisterly effective. The tar is annoying, and in the lack of lighting even Gaonoir missed it until he stepped in it. He can't teleport out of that adhesiveness without hurting himself, so he has to rely on his strength to pull a foot free, step up, and repeat the process a lot slower than he'd like. "Stay here until I get to the top." He motions for Erika to wait at the bottom. And makes a face when she snaps a photo of the 'trap' with him caught in it, but shoves the annoyance aside and continues. The real deviousness is that having to deal with sticking and unstucking his feet to work his way up Gaonoir is focused on the tar, and not what might be in the tar. That the second stage was camoflagued also contributes to that. Just when it looks like he's making headway he pulls his foot free, and puts it down on the next step right on the nails. One eye partially squints as he clamps his jaw shut, biting into his lower lip to keep from yowling. Sure, that's not going to do as much harm as it could of thanks to his physical durability. That doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt like bloody hell! "Definately.. wait.. down there..." Gaonoir manages to snarl through clenched teeth, and now watching for nails as well as the tar makes his slow trek to the top. Once there he's got the spacial clarity to adjust for the slope of the stairs between floors to reach through his shadowy ether to bring Erika up to him. Only then does he flop against a wall and work on pulling the nails out of his feet. That hurts almost as much as stepping on them did. Ow. Ow. Ow. It will take a moment before they can resume catching up with the other group. At least it wasn't LEGOs.
Kupot	Mikoto strides rapidly through the hallway as her boars disappear. The mighty sword comes across at the unlocked and now mostly destroyed door. The blade rips the hinges, and her body bashes through it, shattering the doorway. She stands trimuphantly in the master bedroom. And then a tarantula the size of a horse leaps on top of her, front legs pushing at her torso to pin her down and bring its great fangs to bare and attempt to inject her. At this size, there is enough poison in those glands to replace her blood. Next to the door, the 'toddler' sits, having crashed over on its tricycle, which appears to be remote controlled. The window of the master bedroom stands wide open. "Are you thirsty for more?" A child of eight years old stands at the window, standing on the window sill. On his back is a Red Rider Sniper Rifle. One eye is covered by an eyepatch, but the other glimmers in the delight of watching the pain and suffering of more people going through his house of horrors and traps. While the Tarantula blocks much of the room, he reaches into the window, grabbing a zipline, and rides out to the next door house. The one with no Christmas lights. Gao gets all the way up to dining room from the basement, taking a moment to catch his breath from the painful mark. From his vantage point, he can see into the kitchen, where there is a rather large flame thrower against the door. As well as a television and a large DVD player, with 6 DVDs within, paused on the face of some sort of white faced old style hand puppet, with crazed eyes and red swirl marks on the cheek bones.
Staren	How did he not see those?! Staren stares as the flamethrowers go off. "Property values in a collapsing dimension inhabited solely by... this guy? Must be a hell of a niche market." Then he follows Mikoto to the door. There's a spider. "Please." He blasts it point-blank with the beam cannons. "You know that won't kill her, your work is exceedingly sloppy. Still, Miss Shyra, please fix it if you can." He looks at the fleeing 'toddler' and sighs. Staren thinks for a moment. Then he jumps out the window, walks to the next house, and starts dismantling it, piece by piece, with the matter manipulator, to expose any tricks in the walls.
Sumiko	Mikoto is nearly caught by surprised, knocked to the ground as the massive spider hangs over her, trying to bite her. She rolls to the right and left to avoid the first few strikes before she puts her sword up into the fangs to block them and hold them back. There is a struggle until there is enough room, and the superior speed and flight allow her to shoot off. Standing in the hallway, she slams her sword into the ground and causes a wave of jade spikes to shoot out of the ground. With the spider being so large, either it's going to have trouble getting through or be impaled.
Abigail Barton	"Is that so?" Abigail lets out an amused chuckle at Shyra's response. "The Multiverse would be better off with more people like that. I'll be relying on you sooner rather than later, I expect." The voice speaks. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it does give her a choice: Answer plainly, or answer with theatrics? "I've chosen death long ago, and I'll do it again. I do this so others do not have to." Theatrics it is. When that massive tarantula sets upon Mikoto, so does Abigail upon the tarantula. She doesn't move from her spot, though, instead pressing the back of her wrist against her face while the other hand thrusts out to point at tarantula. "JAM Project!" And with that, Abigail's coat flutters open with a dramatic wind as the orange blob inside surges forward, letting out a high-pitched 'na-na-na-na' noise as it starts battering the tarantula with that gelatinous substance and the barbed wire paint can it had been holding. The strikes themselves aren't particularly strong, or at least they aren't any stronger than a flurry of normal punches. Each strike, though, would leave some of that gelatinous slime on the tarantula, steadily sapping its strength and slowing it down to try buying some time for Mikoto to escape! Or skewer it, even. Either or, really. All Abigail needs is that physical contact.
Gaonoir	Gaonoir nudges Erika, and points her towards the kitchen. "Take a look at that. -From here-," he emphasizes, just to make sure she doesn't wander before he's ready. Erika nods, and does so by holding up her camera and using the zoom function to get a closer look. "A flamethrower. Used to heat the doorknob? And..." Pauses as she readjusts towards the TV and DVD player. "A movie? Was someone interrupted by... No." She lowered the camera as she dawned on her. "The first thing people heard about games and such while we were going to the basement. Someone was using a movie playback to cover their identity?" "Looks that way." Gaonoir flicked the last nail away, and took a light step on his foot. Still stung a little, but he's dealt with worse, he'll be okay. "Whoever this freakazoid is, they're clever. I'll give them that much credit." "Yeah. We better find the rest of the group."
Kupot	It is a tarantula. While it is huge, and possibly magical, it is not acrobatic or intelligent. It is still a GIANT POWERFUL SPIDER. Its front legs, powerful enough to catch parry(and mate with female spiders twice its size), push at Mikoto's blade, fangs dripping the powerful neurotoxin down the blade. It is only through the super human speed, AND the fact that the spider takes a face full of blaster. It reels back, giving Abigail the room she needs to batter the tarantula with the paint can. The barbed wire is useless against the heavy chitin and the hairs on the spider, but there are some sickening crunches. And the spider begins to slow visibly. It cannot resist the goo. Whether it would want to back up, or have the wherewithall at all, it is too weakened. The jade spikes ripple up out of the ground and up into the tarantula, piercing through the soft underbelly with several lobster like crunches, ripping into the beast and pinning it. Staren takes this moment to cheat. He fires his way until the other house. Which is not at all protected like the house of horrors. He can see from here the mounds of dirt in the yard. Bodies buried haphazardly. When the wall blows up, the young child has taken up a kneeling position, aiming the sniper rifle in wait. A shot rings out, slamming into Staren before he runs further into the house, down a hallway. The house he has fled into is painfully open. Bland. No barbed wire, no paint cans, no flame throwers.
Shyra	There is a mighty crash from ahead, and Shya looks up in shock. The sight of the massive tarantula causes Shyra to emit a loud cry of surprise... in text, anyway. EEEEEEEEEK! GIANT SPIDER! The huge thing looks almost enough to send Shyra fleeing on its own, but she remains floating beside Staren. almost as it tethered behind him. Even now, she is refusing to abandon her chosen party lead! And then Staren tells her to handle it! You're... so brace, Gearknight Staren! One moment... She swooshes over towards Mikoto, hovering near her, looking over Mikoto. Did it bite you, Mikoto? Are you all right? It looks like she's all right. Instead, she turns around to face the giant spider...! I'll show you...! The staff rises, and... BIND Glowing rings of white power form around the giant spider, attempting to contract and tie up the creature! Not that it is likely needed, but she'd rather not think it was already dead...! But then BLAM! Staren gets shot while she is occupied! Oh NO! Staren! She calls, rushing towards him...!
Sumiko	Well, at least the spider is not going anywhere fast. She looks towards Abby to give her a thumbs up, before turning towards Shyra. "Yeah, I'm fine, it didn't bi-" gunshot. "Goddamn it Staren," Mikoto moves to zoom out of the house to get a better view of what's going on. There is the house that Staren is taking apart... This time, she disappears, aiming to come through a dark portal right behind the child with a gun. A distorted figure, something out of a nightmare raises behind her, to reach out and grab at the child and pin its arms to its sides as she hovers there. The HEARTBRAND powers of Riku would sure come in handy.
Gaonoir	Or maybe not find the group, as it's kind of hard to miss Staren blasting out of the house of death traps and towards another. Gaonoir grabs Erika and, now that they know the general layout of the house, voidsteps them both outside to follow. Only to stop and peer where Staren's robot armor is. Then look to each other, Erika actually a bit perplexed for a moment. "How did we miss that one house is -not- decorated like the others?" "How many times do I have to rephrase 'Appearances are decieving'," Gaonoir retorts. And then there's gunfire. "I think it's time to put an end to this stupid charade." With that Gaonoir sprints off to follow Staren. Erika drops the camera to hang around her neck by the strap as she pulls out her smartphone, flicks to the digivice app to switch operating modes. "Those traps were serious business, best to not take any chances. D-PORT, ONLINE." Damatic posing with the device held out. "ULTIMATE DIGIVOLUTION, EXECUTE!" The resulting surge of dark energy erupting from the device engulfs Gaonoir, then disperses with the reconfiguration and it's a large beast-man in wolf-themed dark armor that comes stomping up to the bland yard instead of the small dark canine. "Enough of this nonsense," he barks in a slightly reverbrating voice.
Kupot	Shyra's bind pulls the spider down fully, keeping it locked in place, too weak from JAM Project to struggle. When the jade spikes come up, the spider is all the way in position, and the ichor that sprays out from it is devastating. The spider is a mere shell, ichor spreading forth on the floor.
Abigail Barton	As the tarantula slows down, Abigail breathes a sigh of relief as she leans against her cane to visibly relax with her eyes closed. It's more for show than anything else, but she can't keep it up for long as things start progressing into the next house. The orange-haired woman lets out a long sigh, picks up her grappling hook, then heads for the window that Staren, Shyra, and Mikoto charge out of. And then the dog transforms into some kind of weird wolf guy. She stares at Gaonoir and Erika for a few confused moments before shrugging, then tossing her grappling hook over to the other house to take a leisurely swing over there. No sense dropping the limited-stamina act now when everyone else is chasing after the strange voice/child! Once she actually gets there, she takes a seat on the windowsill. "Are you finished yet? If you wanted to play or speak, it might be easier than all of this." As she speaks, though, some of that orange gelatin JAM Project is made up of slips along the floor towards the gun-wielding child. If it can make contact with him, then it sticks on and... Doesn't do anything yet. It's just kind of sticky.
Staren	The bullet makes Staren take a half-step back, a prominent dent surrounded by cracks in his chestplate. His arm swerves up to counterattack with the beam cannons, his computer having already calculated the trajectory, but it's too late; Jigsaw has already fled. Staren sighs and looks at the house with a large chunk of one wall taken out. He COULD just blow it up. But there might still be living prisoners, and noone has a way to make sure. There HAS to be a better way than chasing this guy through all his traps, though... Shyra runs up in concern. "I'm fine; if I need healing magic things have gone very wrong indeed, although if it comes to that I'll be glad for your help. I don't suppose you can cast Mend The Broken?" He taps where his armor is damaged with a finger. Ah. Taking his mind off it for a moment has allowed him to come up with an idea. Staren readies his own sniper rifle; well, it shoots lasers, not bullets, but it can punch through things all the same. And then he recalls his drones and deploys them and even more to search the house Jigsaw fled into. Feeding him data and presenting a 3-D map of the house as they explore it, overlaid in Augmented Reality over Staren's vision. Once they spot Jigsaw laying in wait, Staren can shoot him through the wall; if this is indeed a normal house, anyway.
Kupot	The child is soon pinned against the wall by Mikoto's (Not) Stand. JAM Project flings itself up onto the child, pinning him against the wall. Gaonoir strides forward, digivolving into full war mode. The group all stands around the child, whose bravado seems to be quickly fading away. "Why won't you just die!" He attempts to bite the arm holding him, but Mikoto's choice of grip keeps her insulated from his terrible terrible child teeth. He breathes heavily, realizing this might be the end. He then glances slightly to the right of Gaonoir. Behind the impressive wolf stands an old man. Or, perhaps, the husk of an old man. It is like someone took an old man's skin and tightened it poorly around the body of a weight lifter. His snowy white beard is scraggly with sweat and grime. His face is stretched so that his teeth are constantly showing, his eyes drawn to slits. He brings an enormous snow shovel down at Gao, barely missing. The floor cracks and heaves from the impact of the shovel. The South Bend Shovel Slayer.
Shyra	Shyra looks shocked that the spider is gruesomely stabbed by the spikes, but she doesn't say anything. She didn't kill the spider, after all. She just... enabled Mikoto to do it! That's totally not her fault, right? Still, she gives the spider a wide berth, as if expecting it to leap up and spiderize her at any moment. She floats over to the window and looks outside, almost screaming as she sees Gaonoir stomp out in its imposing Digivolved form. That.... That giant creature! A... Are you sure it's safe? But then there's the matter of Staren! She quickly catches up to Staren, expecting the Sciencecat would be able to make sure everything is fine... And he reassures her that she's fine. She shakes her head though. No... I cannot heal machines, unfortunately. She hovers there attentively while Staren gets sniping, watching the others move up into place to try to harry the enemy entity.. Only for another horrible being to show up. SIR WOLF! Look out! She calls, calling up another BIND spell to try to lock down the South Bend Shovel Slayer from her position. More bands of white power flash into existence, trying to tie him up!
Sumiko	Mikoto follows the eyes of the child towards the monster. Oh, that's not good. She moves towards the child, but...it's a child. It's an eight-year-old with power and abandoned. She can't exactly say it doesn't ring a chord with her. Slowly she walks to the child...and slaps it across the face once. "Stop it," she says in a big sister tone, "Do you think you're the only one in the world who was abandoned with power. I was abandoned without it, left to fend for myself in the streets of Tokyo. So desperate I became I made a foolish wish and here I am." "But...people reached out to me. So, here I am going to return the favor. Stop doing this. Instead, why don't you come with me and I'll show you a home."
Gaonoir	Gaonoir doesn't visibly move. Maybe there's something generally deceptively about his presence. Digimon don't always obey all the logics of physics. Or maybe he's just got a bit of karmatic luck after the tar-and-nails incident. Doesn't really matter why, the snow shovel misses and slams into the ground next to him, cracking and impacting it. But even then the only movement is the eyes within the wolf-head helmet turning to peer down at him. He doesn't have anything snarky to say, because he's done playing these games. He just clenches on metallic fist and, as Shyra casts her binding spell at the shovel-weilding madman, slam the fist down towards him. It is, despite it's directness, not an intentionally lethal blow. If Gaonoir wanted that, he would of extended his warclaws. No, there's a chance that this weirdo might just be some poor shmuck made a pawn of the crazy kid, so he's just going for knocking the Shovel Slayer on his magic-bound ass.
Abigail Barton	"People generally enjoy being alive more than they want to die." Abigail answers the child, still sitting there even as the pieces of JAM Project just stay attached to the child's leg. Even when that old man appears, the orange-haired woman remains seated, and jelly just remains in place. "Unfortunately, we will not be dying here tonight. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" The Stand user closes her eyes as she rests sideways against the window frame, visibly taking another breather while her gelatinous blob works phase two of her plan. The child can feel something odd happening. Rather, he can feel things not working. Legs stop working. Arms become numb. There's no clear culprit to it, but Abigail knows. It's why she had to stay seated for this to happen. "I'd recommend taking their offer. Otherwise..." The uncovered eye stops seeing, and Abigail closes her own eyes to yawn quietly, opening the opposite eye to keep watching the child's reactions. "Well, it's your call."
Kupot	It's hard to call the creature a MAN. It is, in all senses. It lives, it breathes, it eats, it thinks. The binding on the Tarantula was simple. But the binding on this behemoth isn't as easy. It strains against the ropes of magic, already fighting them off. It turns towards Shyra as she appears to aid, only to be hammered into the dirt by Gaonoir. It strains to get back up, struggling against the bonds. Kevin actually gulps back a pain in his throat. "I wished them away!" He demands, but the bite of that is gone. He looks like he is actually moved to tears by Mikoto. He starts to sob openly, like any 8 year old might. Tears streaming down his face, his breathing quickening to the point that he starts to hiccup. "Will... I still get to lure people to their death?" Meanwhile, it appears that Kevin doesn't have direct control over the old man. It appears he only drives creepy old people to defend him. So the muscle bound old man rolls up to his feet and with a hurl that causes a thunderclap, throws his shovel at Shyra.
Abigail Barton	So much for the ghost child being potentially redeemable. Abigail doesn't look particularly torn up over the notion of having to kill the child, although a slight frown does cross her face. JAM Project, meanwhile, takes things up one further notch beyond the legs, arms, and eye already losing function. Breathing starts getting harder. Not impossible, but it might already feel like he's dying before anyone does a thing to him. Abigail herself is firmly seated on that window, at least, so she doesn't have to worry too much about falling over or giving herself away just yet. "Rest well, young man. You've done enough."
Sumiko	Mikoto sighs, a wish... "Yeah...I wished for a new family. My old one abandoned me, and the cost was my soul." She says, warmly to Kevin. As he starts to sob, she brings him into a hug. "No, no killing people randomly. Scaring them if they try and take from you or they're bad, but no killing. You're a good kid deep down, you just forgot where you put it all." She says and reaches a hand out to him, "So come home with me. We all can find it again, we just have to look for our family."
Gaonoir	Gaonoir would of been content at that, had the strangely muscular old geezer stayed down in his bindings. But no, he, it, whatever, had to get back up. And throw his shovel at the least threatening person of the group. (Erika doesn't count, she's the one that has him to call on after all.) That tears it. "TENEBRAE SHROUD!" Gaonoir snaps, as he pulls off his cloak of shadows and flings it at the now shovel-less slaughter. It appears to just fall over the man's form, but if successful in doing so, the darkness that composes it will wrap itself down with crushing force.
Shyra	The problem with being useful when interfering with a bunch of murderous horrors is sometimes the horrors strike back. The shovel rises, and Shyra is just finishing her spell when she sees the attack being loose. The thunderous javelin-throw of the strike crashes towards her, Shyra's eyes opening wide as it crashes into a barrier of light.... And promptly shatters it easily, the glassy sound of the magic breaking heard before the sickening thud of the sharpened shovel crashing into her chest and impaling her against the wall of the building. 9999 She folds over, the light leaving her eyes... =========================== \| G A M E O V E R \| =========================== Maybe not be so obvious next time. > RELOAD QUIT Shyra.... resets. The world is bright again, the healer having just gotten separated from her Paladin friends. She steps through the gate once more, squeaking in surprise at the drones. She joins Staren once more, healing and helping as much as she can through the demonic house, until she steps out onto the balcony... And this time she hunches down behind Staren, cowering as she casts the binding spell. This time, the hurled shovel has to go through /Staren/ instead of the squishy healer.
Staren	Oh no, they merc'd the healer! It's okay, he can fix it... In this timeline... ...Staren has eyes on the shovel murderer. He starts to turn, but... there's no time. His forcefield comes on just in time for the supersonic shovel to hit it. Then, physics happens. Staren and his rapidly-breaking forcefield roll over Shyra (not comfortable, by any means, but not enough weight to hurt her in such a brief time) and Staren rolls back partway to the other house like a hamster in a ball before the forcefield falls apart and dumps him on the ground. Disoriented, he puts all his focus into aiming his beam cannons at the shovel-murderer and firing a dual blast at him, hopefully before a followup attack can come.
Kupot	The kid opens his mouth. He is trying to explain that feeling of power! Of watching people come into your home, and through their own IDIOCY, trip and slip their way to their death. To be lured by their own false expectations into a horrible murder. How fun it was to shoot people in the crotch with a sniper rifle! But Abigail is using her power to slow his breathing down to a point that he is just about to pass out, lulling him into a fugue state with Mikoto. It'll probably be fine. Right? MEANWHILE, in the devastation of the house, the two goliaths slug it out. Without the shovel, some of the might of the 'man' is gone. He swings two beefy gnarled fists at Gao, connecting one, but unable to get the second as the shadows drape over him, wreathing him in darkness. Darkness that begins to pull him down to his knees. He roars out in a horrible wordless pain. There's a blip. As if everything is happening again. Perhaps a black cat walks by again. Pinned down, and driven to pull his weapon away from the other threat, Staren puts all his firepower into the beast of a man, pinned down, an easy target. Then the darkness clears, the South Bend Shovel Killer is not moving, and the Evil Serial Killer Kevin McCallister is in a fugue state with Mikoto. Regardless of what happens to the young man, a string of horrible murders has ended. And hey, you get to loot the shit out of the house!
Sumiko	Mikoto blinks, wait the kid's breathing is becoming very...heavy? Crap... "Staren, get over here. You too Shyra. The kid's not breathing well and just passed out!" she says, laying him flat on the ground. She doesn't know how to do CPR or even basic stuff, she... She doesn't know what to do and feels powerless.
Gaonoir	It may lack some omph without the shovely, but the sickeningly swole geezer still punchs with enough force to make Gaonoir take notice. But not enough to stop him from throwing his cloak of shadows, and crushing down on the murderer until Staren can gun the weirdo down. The shadows just dissolve in the process... And by the time anyone looks at him again his cloak has reformed from darkness upon his back. He looks at the collapsed child murderer... and for a moment has a pang of sympathy. His own dark path was started by losing a home and friends, and a twisted god-computer willing to take advantage of that. Turned him into a weapon, a monster... But then he was found by people that tried to pull him back, on a better path. It'd never clean all the blood off his paws, but it... filled a void he almost never knew he had. Erika snaps a few more pictures of the events, and then Gaonoir scoops her up with an arm. "I've had enough of this place. It's bringing up bad memories." "It.. oh.. yeah, I suppose in a way..." Erika just shakes her head a little as she puts the camera away in her bag. "Yeah. Let's go home." With that the duo head back towards the Warpgate. They never cared about the supposed treasure. The mystery and stopping the disappearance/murderers was enough for them.
Abigail Barton	With the kid starting to pass out, Abigail can start to move again. As she gets up from the window, the strange ghost child would be able to move his arms and legs again. He'd even be able to see properly! If he's awake enough to realize it, anyway. She even lets up on the effect on his lungs once she can't hold her own breath any longer! "The rest is up to you, then. Now that my work here is done..." Time to loot the place while everyone else is busy. She's not completely in it for the riches, but it certainly can't hurt to bring back a souvenir or three.
Shyra	Shyra is squished, but she'll be fine. Staren is much more durable than she is. She even apologizes to him for it! Still, as she floats down to the group, there is a faint oddness about the healer, a sort of flickering distortion, a growing sense of unreality around her. Still, the effect is fairly subtle, though it seems to leak into her textboxes a bit as well. By the time she's at the child, looking him over, she shakes her head. He seems to be fin3. He looks like he is merely tired. Give him some rest and care, and I am sure #e will be up and moving again quickly. After all, the influence on him let up before she got to him. How can she tell at this stage? Still, all is well that ends well.