View source for Soan Vs The Volcano

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/10
|Location=Roving Islands - Mt. Kilauea
|Synopsis=Soan and Friends involve themselves with Feige Abramson's evil lair. Vaguely Disturbing stuff in this one, possibly.
|Cast of Characters=Will Sherman, Pumpkinhead, Seloria Delacreaux, Kyra Hyral, Kamon Lionward, Soan Sagittarius, Alberic Lux,  Alma Hyral
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Feige Abramson has been incredibly saucy as of late. The best way to deal with someone who is being saucy is usually to set them on fire, but in this case it's probably better to actually try and learn more about Feige Abramson and, more importantly, whether she actually has a hostage in the first place.<br /><br />Through Soan's investigations, he has been able to track down Feige Abramson to Hawaii and, later, to a facility in Mauna Loa. Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on Earth in terms of volume and area covered so naturally the facility is actually really just in a small portion of Mauna Loa but the arrogance suits Feige just fine all the same.<br /><br />Mauna Loa, notably, has been erupting for hundreds of thousands of years. Mauna Loa is a shield volcano, however, and hasn't had any fatalities in its eruptions in ages. It HAS, however, destroyed villages. Chances are, Feige has set up magma defenses anyway and some FIRE RESIST gear may be helpful to avoid taking extra damage from lava pools while you are inside.<br /><br />The entranceway is a small elevator that is colored up to blend in with the volcano, it should take you deep inside the volcanic structure in short order. A sign near the elevator says: 'NOT A Secret Lair'. This has convinced the normal authorities that there is no secret lair here. Normally they'd be suspicious of a sign like that, but the back of the sign indicates it was purchased from Trustworthysigns.com. Even the website vouches for it!

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ah, so this was the 'solution' that Alma was alluding to that Soan apparently had a part in. Good. Kyra is thoroughly looking forward to the end of all this nonsense so her sister can at least remain unterrorized for a /little/ while. <br /><br />Not unaware of the natural phenomenon known as a "volcano," Kyra can appreciate the guts it takes to have a base inside of one. Inaccessable and undeniably cool. But today she's not here to display any appreciation or fangirling for her "fellow scientist." Kyra has come prepared to inflict PAIN...to what will probably be a straight up infiltration. But let's be real. She believes that there will probably be some ridiculous guard robot involved in these shenanigans. <br /><br />Between the guns, ammo, and Kyra's usual load-out of various test tubes and vials, the white mage looks like she just walked in from an action movie. All she's missing are bulging muscles and a Y chromosome. Some of her much more volatile mixtures have been left behind, however, due to the heat.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> There is a saying back in the Departement of Rogues: You can stop most causal snoopers with a nice box of donuts, a stern door and a friendly guard that clearly denotes that there's nothing wrong beyond the doors and really, it's just procedures that he's there to keep a watch on things, signed in the union rules and everything, you understand surely. It does not, however, stop more determined investigators, particularly the kind that use the same level of tricks on everyone else. <br /> <br /> Soan Sagittarius is one of theses people, getting to the entry way of the elevator to inspect it while people gather up around. Everyone is here for the same reason, he hopes. He's pretty sure about that, at least. The Rogue observes the elevator. Volcanos are a little strange to him, still. Stylish. Destructive, kind of a symbol show of what nature can unleash on the world, unaware. He'll belive asseration that this is the largest from this 'Earth' world. No reasons to doubt it, honestly. <br /> <br /> After a few moments, he nods, ready to step inside the elevator, looking back. "We can't really climb down this thing manually -- everyone get on. We're going down. Is everyone ready?"

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alma Hyral really shouldn't be here. <br /> <br /> The adolescent had been up for nearly seventy two hours straight in Archades, dealing with the casualties of the invasion. It's been a heartwrenching, soul-crushing experience for her, given that many cannot be saved, and she can only ease their passing. She's beyond exhausted, she's already been pushed to her limits.. if not for some alchemical concoctions that had appeared mysteriously in the triage tent she'd set up, she's likely have already collapsed from the strain. <br /> <br /> Anger does funny things to a person though, and in this case, after she took the last fatigue reduction potion left to her by some mysterious benefactor that was obviously NOT Dragoon Man, she had her second wind. Or was that third, or fourth? She'd stopped counting as the hours passed. <br /> <br /> While the thought of facing Feige Abramson to free her hostage, which may or may not be real, would have given her pause.. recently Feige's servant had tried to murder her. And that sent a singular message to the girl... all bets were off. The horrifying little social experiment that was but a mask for the hostage situation was over. When Soan offered that they should pay Feige Abramson a visit at Mauna Loa.. she'd jumped at the oppurtunity, exhausted or not. <br /> <br /> As for fire resist gear? Well she had that covered. <br /> <br /> When they arrived at the secret Volcano base, and found the elevator shaft, she'd actually do a double take at the sign, before groaning. She even checked the back of the sign, groaning again. Seriously, did anyone actually believe that? It's like she got the sign from /Honest/ Ackbar's discount sign rental. <br /> <br /> She was wearing her typical white mage robes with the red triangular trim, and she was sweating like some Ifriti swine. She took intermittent sips from a canteen while the others gathered, and then when Soan suggested they ride the elevator down, she stated in a resolute tone, "Ready Soan."

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Seloria tags behind the group, quite probably holding Alma's hand. <br /> <br /> This is, after all, Alma's adventure, and the poor girl is, well... Seloria isn't going to think about it too hard. Dressed down in a white sleeveless sun-dress for the heat and a wide floppy-brimmed straw hat, she looks coolly comfortable. And smug. It helps to keep cool when you can personally summon the Goddess of the Wind every here and there. <br /> <br /> She frowns slightly. "Ready." She confirms.

:'''[[Kamon Lionward]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kamon supplies the muscles and the Y chromosome.<br /><br />Also the obligatory sword... sort of. We'll get to that.<br /><br />Kamon stands with the group, up at the front. He eyes the sign skeptically, and just shakes his head a little. Kamon's 'fire resistant' gear is kind of the opposite: he's got a long and apparently thick brown coat on, long-sleeved and collared and buttoned all the way up. He's sweating, but not that much. Odin was never really made out to be a nice, temperate wonderland, after all.<br /><br />The spear he, uh, 'made' was left behind. Intel said that metal weapons would be a bad plan. Instead, he's got an odd kind of weapon, what looks like a hand-and-a-half wooden club with triangular stone spikes sticking out of either side of it. He rests it on his shoulder, eyeing the elevator warily. "As I'll ever be," Kamon reports.

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Coming on this adventure without 72 hours of sleep might not be the best of plans but with luck, the infiltration will be uneventful and she can take a nap. She probably does not want to take a nap inside, though. But in any event, going down the mining shaft is uneventful. The security, so far, is largely based on being a tiny elevator in a large landmass. And the trustworthy sign. It's a tight fit to get everyone on it. Nevertheless, no laser guns or magma guns shoot out during the downward descent. So far so good! It takes a while, though.<br /><br />The shaft elevator opens up within the volcano. Since this is a cartoon volcano, it does not neccessarily follow traditional physics. There's small lava pools around the area, most of them are easily avoidable.<br /><br />HOWEVER: There is a large lava pool blocking the way to a TREASURE CHEST. Walking across the lava would do SOME DAMAGE to your character but not kill you because honestly, it's a cartoon, but there's a treasure chest! WHO KNOWS WHAT IT COULD CONTAIN?<br /><br />Past some rock formations, another line of hot magma is trickling down--easily jump overable--and past that is a steel door with a keycard lock--probably leads to the facility proper. You could BLOW IT OPEN, though it'd be noisy, or you could find some other method.<br /><br />So far there are no dark elves using magnetic powers to ruin the days of those wearing metal though it IS very hot and all.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Soan resists every little fiber of his being to just jump accross the lava pool to go grab the treasure chest. No, this is not a solo mission, far from it. He has to stay as Soan Sagittarius, and display Soan Sagittarius abilities at the current. 'Jumping several metres like it's a slow stroll' is not one of them. Being a smart, cheeky son of a gun, however, is. <br /> <br /> Soan stared at the chest for a long, long time, accross the lava field, then shakes his head. "Not worth it. Let's move on, I doubt it's very much important, anyway." He says, leading the group through the rock formations. During one of the turns, however, the rogue suddenly vanishes, for a few turns. In truth, Soan just couldn't let that one thing go, maybe it IS important, especially with the keycard-locked magnetic thing. It's fortunate that Soan is rather quick about it, who then shows up, lifting a potion. Hopefully, nobody saw the long jump he did accross the lava. Fortunately, to further muddy the thing, he threw a grapple hook accross to help guide it. If anything, contengency plans are what he does. <br /> <br /> "I went back and checked the chest," He explains, shaking the potion a bit. "Wasn't a magnetic card. I can't really pick an electronic lock, altought I can try. Ideas?"

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Soan pauses, looking at Kyra. "I mean, before we blow it up. Let'S leave the big explosions for when someone deserves it."

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>The girl could make it to the treasure chest.. but no. <br /> <br /> First, she's not here for /treasure/. Second she doesn't trust anything Feige Abramson set out in the open, even if /the open/ is still protected by a lava pit. Third, she has no experiences with locks and traps. So she pays absolutely no attention to the chest, in fact she turns her back to it, moving forward at a slow pace with those of the group who aren't mesmerized by the thought of shinies over to the line of hot magma, just prior to the jump. <br /> <br /> She gives it a thoughtful look and.. /yeah/ there's no way she's going to risk jumping that via mundane methods. She's a total klutz as is, and in these robes it's a disaster waiting to happen. Time for the fire resist gear. It's known as just evading it entirely. A yellow corona forms around her and she just floats around it in an arc by altering her gravity and momentum to bypass the chances of touching the dripping line of magma, and landing on the other side. <br /> <br /> Once there, she examines the keycard lock, but doesn't touch it otherwise. Instead she just looks around the area for an alternate method of entering... <br /> <br /> "I d-don't know. I never t-took any classes on i-infiltration...Soan." <br /> <br /> As for Soan checking the chest, well, nothing suspicious at all about that. The guy was a genius rogue after all.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kyra will definitely be happy with Kamon supplying the muscles and the Y chromosome. Oh yesss. <br /><br />Kyra's skin is glistening, though it doesn't look to be entirely sweat. It's like she rubbed vaseline all over herself, leaving behind a shiny, clear film. She seems pretty capable of sweating through this strange substance. The mysterious substance was also offered to Kyra at one point though if pressed to its origins she might have alluded to something 'Jelly-derived.' <br /><br />"Of course I'm ready." she murmurs to Soan. <br /><br />For some reason, once they step out into the main chamber which is surrounded by molten rock and open pools of lava, Kyra doesn't immediately immotalate. She is perfectly okay with this and would certainly look deeper into this fortuitious effect, but they had to keep moving. She avoids the lava pools either way since she is not a certified geomancer with DMGFLOOR. <br /><br />As Soan asks for ANY IDEAs, Kyra is like a -second- away of suggesting something. Only to be cut off by Soan, "Uh, actually, since we're in a volcano I left most of my explosives at home. I didn't want to risk them self-igniting. We could try some strong acids, though, I have a few of those. And...uh..." her voice lowers, "..somefailedcurry."

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> ".... why are you carrying around failed curry?" Seloria asks, for Kyra's ears alone. <br /> <br /> The Summoner looks around, rubbing her nose. She's got nothing.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alma Hyral gives her a horrified look and lowers her voice as she moves towards Kyra, "Thatwascurry? Ithoughtyouweremakinghydrofluoricacid."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kyra holds up her pointer finger, "Because I have learned, in the battlefield of the kitchen, if you cannot eat it, you may as well weaponize it."

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alma Hyral has decided to introduce Will Sherman to her sister at earliest oppurtunity. He may yet disprove that theory.

:'''[[Kamon Lionward]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kamon does not look surprised that Soan disappears for a bit. Nor does he look surprised that there are twisty rock formations. He is kind of surprised Soan can't pick it. "Pry it?" he suggests.<br /><br />He is a little bit worried when Kyra makes her dramatic declaration. He peers sidelong at her, a somewhat concerned expression. He should learn more chemistry, so he knows what will stop dangerous chemical reactions.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Soan is rather glad he didn't touch the lunch Kyra made. It's a survival instinct that he learned over the years, to not eat what she makes. "I know, I'm the infltration expert." The Rogue replies, taking a deep breath in. He's rather sweating by it all, but thanks to several factors, including his clothing and a well-timed drinking of a fire resitance potion, he don't automatically combust on the spot. "I lost most of my electric cracking devices since... well, you know." The Rogue says, lamely, a little sadly. "Couldn't replace them, yet. It's funny to know that it's hard to find a magnetic-scrambler card in theses parts. Shorting it out with acid could work... Or, hm!" Soan finishes, peering at the electronic locks, reaching out for a screwdriver from his tool set. "Alright, I'll wedge it open, you screw it up, Kyra."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kyra grins brightly at Kamon. This probably does not help. <br /><br />Reaching down, Kyra pulls the snap off of a large, almost saddlebag-sized satchel strapped to her waist at her left hip (her right hip has a similar bag) and withdraws a large square-shaped container crafted of glass and...well it looks like a plastic lid. Those magically inclined will see there's some kind of enchantment on it to keep the unholy concoction contained within...contained. "Alright everyone, stand back." <br /><br />When she pries the lid off, a slightly curry-scented sulfurous odor immediately permeates the area. <br /><br />She waits until Soan has pried the panel off before carefully tipping the contents inside. It seems she's trying to not use all of the curry.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Suddenly! <br /><br /> The door opens... <br /><br /> /DRAMATICALLY/! <br /><br /> Will Sherman, in the guise of a minion of Feige, is standing there. He kicks the stilts off, to make himself a foot taller, and throws the uniform off in a SINGLE motion... <br /><br /> And then CURRY flies at his face. <br /><br /> This might be disasterous if not for ONE THING. <br /><br /> Will DEVOURS the curry right out of the air, Taking a moment...then BLENCHING loudly. He rubs his mouth and looks at Kyra, "Thanks, how did you know I was hungry?! CAN YOU SEE THE FUTURE?!" He has a flash back of... <br /><br /> No, Melody never used her powers to throw curry at his face. Not even once. <br /><br /> "...A bit too spicy, though. Maybe you should...tone down on the.." he pauses, "Hydrocloric acid?" He says, looking at her oddly. "Or is that just everything in a spice cabnet at once?" <br /><br /> "Oh right, so Max told me to open the door for you guys. He's up ahead."

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alma Hyral just gapes at Will as he devours the curry, there's some back and forth chatter on the radio, and she's just grinning, just a little, as she pats Kyra on the shoulder. "Mister Sherman, I'd like you to m-meet my sister. She's the one who t-thinks everything she cooks is i-inedible." She then mouths /IT IS/. "..K-Kyra I'd like you to meet your n-newest test subject." <br /> <br /> And now that the bad joke is over, "I'm g-glad the two of you could make it." <br /> <br /> She then walks past the door.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Soan cannot see the future. NOR COULD HE SEE THAT COMONG. <br /> <br /> "Watch out!!" Sagittarius lets out, drawing his short sword at the FEIGE GOON turn around and... is revealed to not be a goon at all! Just a demon, nobody could eat this thing without flinching like that! Nobody human, anyway! Even then, that's a stretch! He doubt even Ogres would swallow that down without flinching! The aftermatch could kill villages! Still, he recognises the man, lifting an arm. "Wait!" Before everyone rushes in to sack beat Will. <br /> <br /> The Rogue steps foward, sheathing his blade and giving a firm nod at Will. He knows the guy. He's met him. Twice. In different identities, sure, but still twice. A side glance is offered at Alma, which is directed back at Will. "Good to see you two made it, then. You've startled us a bit, there." He says, as he walks past the door.

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Opening that chest was important!! It was actually the trigger for you to find out that there wasn't a keycard inside the chest thus triggering the script to allow Will Sherman to open the door for you. That makes things easier! But what happened to those Crime INC guards?<br /><br />IN A VOLCANO CLOSET<br /><br />Two Crime INC guards in their underwear groan.<br /><br />HERE<br /><br />As the doors prop open, Feige's voice filters in through the volcano's sound system--yes there is one of those--it's a recording, so Will has actually heard this all before.<br /><br />"Welcome!" Feige says. "To my volcano lair of evil! If you're an invading group of heroes, please throw yourselves into the nearest lava pool! If you're an evil scientist here to try and prove your superiority, please note that I'm out for the moment. Send a text to radio 305210 and I'll be right there as soon as possible and we can let our wits decide who is the better scientist! If you are here to cooperate on an evil science project, please enjoy the volcano lobby and refreshments.<br /><br />The 'lobby' is immediately past the doors. There's a bunch of comfortable looking couches set about, a water cooler with only 'hot' water available, and complimentary hot chocolate. There's a small receptionist's desk nearby but no receptionist and no computer for the receptionist. There is a small elvis-printed notepad however.<br /><br />There were also a complimentary box of chocolates but most--if not all--are mysteriously absent, depending on Will.<br /><br />There are three paths, with signs indicating where they lead. One points towards 'Secret Control Room'--Max may have actually gone there already in order to deal with a few matters--, that one's heading up. Another, heading further down, apparently leads to the Biolabs--and then there's a third that's just heading straight labeled 'Weapons Testing'. The Weapons Testing path is a bit of a timed puzzle because magma gouts shoot between the path's walls, sort of like a Quick Man stage.

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Seloria continues playing follow-the-Hyral. <br /> <br /> And not Kyra, either. <br /> <br /> She lets them talk, creeping over to the receptionist desk to peruse the notepad, mostly out of curiosity. You never know what a Evil Scientest might have left behind!

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alma Hyral runs a hand down her sweat-drenched face when she hears the recording mumbling, "And h-here I thought that Illua would be the last c-crazy serial v-villain I faced." <br /> <br /> She imagined Feige having no less than ten elaborate death traps below, each playing a recording of how ingenius said death trap it is and detailing how they were foolproof. She walks with Seloria over by the notepad, then gives Soan a questioning look, which way does he think they should go first?

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>IT'S A FEIGE GOON, THROW CURRY AT IT! <br /><br />THE CURRY IS INEFFECTIVE! IT MUST BE A <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">DEMON</span>! <br /><br />"Sulphuric acid, actually." Kyra notes, slapping the enchanted lid back onto the container. "So you are Will Sherman, the one who purports he can eat anything. Well. We'll see about that...later." She slips her Curry of Mass Destruction back into her satchel. <br /><br />As they head into the room, she freezes up at the sudden FEIGE VOICE. She's about to shout back when she realizes that it's a recording. "...hmm, match wits, see who's the better scientist?" she muses to herself, tapping her finger to her chin. "Tempting. But no. We must find the Omega." <br /><br />Kyra turns to her fellow Behemoth Classmates and nods. "Well everyone! You know the drill. Standard search and looting procedures."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Yeah...." Will says, "Anyway, this isn't important right now. Max went to the first one, so we should go to Biolabs. He thinks that's where she is. But they might have moved her to the other one. So... <br /><br /> He shrugs, "I say we avoid Quick Man's stage." He says, squinting. "So to the labs." he says, and walks off, not caring about traps. Because lucky. <br /><br /> "And I can eat anything. I totally beat your Shivan friend to a eating contest...Rena."

:'''[[Kamon Lionward]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kyra's bright grin doesn't make him any less concerned, but it /does/ make him grin like an idiot for about a minute.<br /><br />AND THEN there's a VWORP VWORP noise as Kamon is about to BATTLE TRANSITION --!!<br /><br />Nope, just... one of those weird detectives. Kamon lowers his club, looking skeptically at him and the door. It looks like their allies are already inside. THat's a nice change of pace. Kamon shoulders the club and strides on forward, deciding not to ask about the curry. He figures that Will knows what he's getting into, and he doesn't want to speak poorly of Kyra's culinary skills when she's within earshot.<br /><br />"Right. I'll vanguard." Kamon starts checking the room's entrances and covering those while other people search.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>She gives Will an strange look, "Wasn't i-it a d-draw by d-default since the W-Wildkat ran out of f-food?" <br /> <br /> She offers no complaint about the idea of going to the biolabs, though. Best that they free the Legion-Omega node and get out of Dodge.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Soan tenses up at the voice, relaxing quickly as he realises it's a recording. Made his heart jump, there. Already as they step in, Soan's eyes darts around the room for anything that is interesting, a sort of 'Thief Stare' that tell him anything that might be valuable, as well hides any secret compartment. Really, it's just being really observant. Nothing supernatural about that, altought some wish it was. <br /> <br /> "Is he? Hm. Alright then, we'll go to the Biolabs." The Rogue says, done after a quick inspection of the lobby. "That may be where our main objective is at. Everyone, stay tight together, open your eyes and watch out for flashing things, or anything that may be important. From here on, we're in enemy territory. Let's move!"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "I WOULD HAVE WON!" Will insists! "Also, I think we took care of all the guards. The Evil INC. guys are kinda laughable." Will adds on.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Soan pauses, looking at Will. "Oh." Another pause. "What about traps?" He asks. Inside, he hopes there's still traps left. He'd want traps.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "I never seem to hit them." Will says, "I thought you were a Dra-...Are you a thief?"

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alma Hyral suddenly has something in her ears. Nope, didn't hear anything. /ANYTHING/.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> If Soan made a face about that slip of the tongue, it's hard to see. Instead, he refugees himself in a slightly annoyed tone, correcting him as he adjusts his glasses on his jacket. "Please, I am a /rogue/."

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Will advances forward. He triggers no less than five traps. A boulder lands where he was just a moment before, poisoned arrows shoot out a touch late as he passes by, a geyser of flame shoots up a bit early, and a machine gun turret just--fails--to activate.<br /><br />However, slightly past the turret is a banana peel, which Will slips on, possibly bonking his head.<br /><br />"That's Crime INC," The tied up guard in the nearby Volcano closet shouts.<br /><br />Of course for the other folks, the traps might be a bit trickier. Except for the banana peel. That banana peel has it out for Will Sherman.

:'''[[Kamon Lionward]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kamon solves the trap problem by letting Soan go first, so he can properly handle them.<br /><br />Dude has no desire to make reflex saves without Evasion.<br /><br />(He's a couple levels shy.)

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will suddenly SLIPS on a banana peel! <br /><br /> Cue laughtrack. <br /><br /> "<GOOSEHONK>! Always Banana peels!" he says, standing up and throws it to the side. It might trigger another trap and he keeps walking by. <br /><br /> "That or rakes! Rakes to the face are the /worst/." he continues on, "Oh whatever, might as well call you REDSHIRTS R US." and he looks back to Soan, "Okay, Rogue...least you don't insist on 'treasure hunter'."

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Will Sherman steps on a rake that someone left on the ground for no reason. It's not a trap, just someone being careless. It THWACKS into his face.

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Seloria frowns. <br /> <br /> Then she steals Feige's grocery list, and the second note, tucking them into her pocket. <br /> <br /> Then, humming idly, she follows the crew. She has good Evasion.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "OW!" Will says, and THROWS HIS HAT DOWN IN DISGUST. <br /><br /> He picks it up.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Soan, similarly, winces. "I think, you should let me go first." The Rogue offers, helpfully. "Traps are my specialty."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Definitely a 'Soan goes first' thing." Kyra nods sagely. She's been dungeoneering with Soan! She knows how this works! "Don't worry, Alma, he can even figure these out."

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Will throwing down his hat presses down a pressure sensitive trap. Another banana peel falls from a chute somewhere above and lands in front of his feet.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"...The show is entertaining, thought." Soan replies, crossing his arms as he watches the proceedings.

:'''[[Kamon Lionward]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Who leaves a /rake/ inside an /evil lair/ built into the side of a /volcano/?" Kamon demands, astonished.

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Evil Science Is ..." Seloria grasps for a word -- <br /> <br /> "Inconvienent?" The Summoner shrugs, even as she looks over her shoulder, Sylph bursting to life there as she tilts her head.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Wha-AGH!" Will falls again. <br /><br /> "...Okay seriously! Enough! THis is SERIOUS TIME!" Will says, impressing on reality to STOP BEING SILLY.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "Evil scientists. And the gardener, obviously." Soan replies causally to Kamon's astonished comment as he takes a step foward, taking out a few tools swiftly from his pouches, getting to work on the traps that are ahead. It's rather amazing to see him at work on something that is actually a /trap/, despite his claims of not being able to do anything with the previous magnetic lock earlier. He spots triggering mechanism. <br /> <br /> Optic sensors get clouded, greased, systematically removed with a special twisting tool, added to his collection, spring traps get compacted, disarmed of their cargo. Robot-Monkey Banana Peel launchers get disabled and distracted by a robotic banana. Flame throwers get neutered from their source of ignition. Lava pits traps are conveiently safe guarded from unloading their cargo by wedging their opening. <br /> <br /> In other words, as Soan Sagittarius advances foward, humming all the way a happy tune, it's like a child in a candy shop. If the candies were terrible deadly superscience traps.

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Reality stops being silly on demand. Unless it's a trap. A trap to make you think reality will be serious and is actually planning to do one more silly thing.<br /><br />Soan disables the traps, allowing the group to move along more readily. Eventually, the team makes it to a--<br /><br />...golf course? Well not precisely. There is a TURF on the ground much like one would expect from a golf course, complete with sprinklers set up at various points along the golf course turfe. There IS at least one hole with a flag sticking out of it. No golf clubs are visible. But what might be more notable is what isn't involved in the 'golf'.<br /><br />For starters there is a generator embedded in the volcanic rock, glowing vibrantly with heat. The golf 'course'flits around large cylinders that reach from the ground to the ceiling, each filled with obscure fluids. They seem to be powered by the generator right there and each one has a small computer console nearby to poke at.<br /><br />But what is ESPECIALLY notable is what's INSIDE the cylinders: Dennous. There's one through each tube, post-it notes have been plastered on them noting 'FAILURE'.<br /><br />Will Sherman will see that they don't have fate lines, not really. These 'Dennous' never made it to a living state, but Feige was clearly TRYING to make one. There's more cylinders further on.<br /><br />There is a small electrical thrum, a faint 'thnkkkk' noise further down--then nothing.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will steps into the green... <br /><br /> Then...nothing. No lines, no fate... <br /><br /> Will stares...he walks to a tube and looks in. Failure. The thing inside...it was a Dennou. Will stares at it for a long time. A long long moment. His breath comes ragged after a moment...they are dead. The images running through his head....the Cronus stuff was first, seeing the dead Dennou... <br /><br /> He asked for this. He takes a breath. He knew why he was here. <br /><br /> "FEIGE!" he booms, his voice thundering unlike the Will Sherman you know and have grown to accept. His voice, modulates between two voices...those with magical senses will find themselves being overwhelmed as SOMETHING stirs. <br /><br /> It is older, stronger, and more powerful than anything you might have felt. Will's entire aura changes, and...for a moment wrath takes over. He starts moving, with a purpose, towards the end. <br /><br /> He has to save them.

:'''[[Kamon Lionward]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kamon watches Soan work. He doesn't get half of the stuff he's doing, but he /does/ get how hard it is to do while under fire and in a hurry. He slowly walks along, watching the sides and the exits as the party moves forward. He's tense, like a snake ready to strike as soon as a target presents itself. He has to be, in a situation like this; it's his job.<br /><br />Then, golf course. Kamon's wariness slackens for a second, he's so surprised. He looks around quizzically, at the generator and the... tubes? Kamon starts towards them, walking closer to see what's inside and what's on them. Sticky notes, marked 'FAILURE,' and...<br /><br />"Gods above," Kamon breathes. "Is that --" He's met the Dennous -- a couple of them, anyway. He looks at the rest of the party, hoping for some kind of answer. When Will storms off, he assumes the worst. "Did she --" He works his jaw, but says nothing at all.<br /><br />Kamon makes a decision. He glances back at the Hyrals and Seloria, saying firmly, "Keep your distance. I think this is going to get ugly. Soan; advance to pincer." Kamon takes off at a quick dash, trying to catch up to Will before he gets too far ahead.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Soan's appreciation of pockets full of new components of traps. He steps into the pseudo golf course, his eyes flying around from the various tubes, his eyes squinting at the post-it notes. Two thoughts comes to his mind: 1) Are these the Dennous that Feige was talking about? And 2) Why Post-it notes? There's a perfectly good screen aviable around! <br /> <br /> The Rogue advances toward one of them, lifting a hand to touch the tubes, stopping himself just a few inches away from the glass. "What the hell happened, here? They look... dead." He mumbles, brows furrowing. <br /> <br /> Then, Will screams his lungs out. Turning around on a dime on his heels, Soan looks at the young man with wide eyes, gritting his teeth. This is the worse that could happen. He hopes the mad man /didn't hear them/. "Tch! So much for a silent exploration." He says, drawing his short sword, nodding at Kamon. "Right!" He says, dashing off in the opposite direction to catch up with Will. Pincers, you know, works like that.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kyra happily admires Soan's deft skills with trap-disabling...from afar. From afar and behind Kamon no less-not that she thinks that something would go horribly wrong meriting her to take refuge behind the Odynar. <br /><br />So...a golf course. Feige has enough time between her evil sciencing to enjoy a golf course? Kyra's a little baffled-at least until she examines the place a little more closely, eyes drawn to the 'power source' of the large cylinders. Her first thoughts go to generators she's seen on Ramuha before, harnessing the endless storm overhead. Only Ramuha wasn't powered by PEOPLE! FEIGE'S GOLF COURSE IS PEEEEEEOPLE! <br /><br />Silent, she follows after Will and looks into the tube. She doesn't see the fate strings so as far as she could tell, this 'failure' was a living organism just like the Dennous she has met before. She places a hand against the tube, but withdraws once she feels Will Sherman next to him suddenly...well, Kyra cannot quite describe it other than absolute magical sensory overload. She lets out a small cry and clutches her head. <br /><br />"What is-" she peeks up, hearing Kamon talking. Keep your distance. Numbly, she nods. She will follow eventually, but far enough behind that if anything comes at the guys, it'll have to go through all of them first to get to her.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>After Soan got them by the traps, Alma Hyral walks into the biolabs. As she looked at each of the tubes, she'd walk up to one of them, her eyes falling upon the post-it note. /Failure/. <br /> <br /> She looked at the figure inside the cylinder forlornly. Closing her eyes, and sucking in a breath. Then she'd move over to the next one. And the next one... all the way down the line. <br /> <br /> They were just ciphers in tubes to Feige Abramson. The failed results of trial and error. Nothing more. This is what their lives amounted to. <br /> <br /> All she'd whisper is, "Cosma save us all.." <br /> <br /> Will's presence doesn't even register over the numb shock. She's just noting each of them, so that at least to /someone/ they'll be something more than just failures.

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Seloria rocks back on her heels as she recognizes who and what are in those tubes. Her green eyes, then, narrow in sadness as she realizes that those are Dennous. <br /> <br /> "Oh no.." She whispers. <br /> <br /> Then Will goes all FAELY and Seloria rocks again, biting her bottom lip at the wash of power. "Um... yes, Kamon." She finally gets out.

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Feige does not respond. If she were here she'd probably be noisier at this point.<br /><br />Will runs! RUN RUN RUN. He passes by more tubes, most of these are empty, even devoid of the nutrient bath fluid. Feige is not enviromentally concious, though, they ARE plugged in.<br /><br />And then finally one tube, emblazoned with the greek sigil for OMEGA.<br /><br />And it is...%r...Empty.<br /><br />As Will nears, the computer terminal pops on and Feige appears on the screen in video.<br /><br />"Hello!" She says. "This is an automated message. This means that you've found my dear Legion Omega. Or rather--where she'd be if Cronus didn't kill her ages ago. How, you may ask? By feeding her to a Heartless, yep! Legion-Omega was the last one to die. Permanently, anyway! You gave me quite a scare, Alma, by looking into my project here. I needed more time, so I made a few bluffs, bullied you around a little. After all, I couldn't have Legion finding out about the truth just yet! I needed to find out more, I needed to find out more about God, The Angels, Project D, all these things. So much to learn! And the true purpose of The Network." Her eyes narrow faintly. "And I couldn't have you jepordizing these with your 'background check'. Don't get angry, Alma. You and I both know that you wouldn't make it in the Murasame Corporation. I must admit, though, if you made it here and I haven't prepared a nastier surprise--you must have gotten here without me knowing! Not sacrificing anyone, well done, well done!" She claps sarcastically. "And for you, there will be a prize. You get to deal with Beetle. Haha just kidding! She's going to kill you all. Isn't that delicious? Perishing to the Legion Mk II! COME BEETLE!"<br /><br />Doors in the far off end slide open and the older looking 'Dennou'--looks to be an adult, late teens or early twenties--walks out. "...Will?" She asks. "No..." She grabs at her head. "Don't look at me, Will. Don't look. Look away, before it's too laaaaaaate!!!"<br /><br />Feige continues, ignoring this. "Legion Mk II is actually younger than the Network you've met so far, she is the first Legion I have managed to successfully create. There will be more, of course, but I need more knowledge first. I felt the whole 'little girl' thing was just a bit too much, so I aged her up a bit. Honestly! The younger they are, the more they want to save them! So it's better this way."<br /><br />The Legion 'Mk II' starts shaking, grabbing at her body, her eyes stretching wide.<br /><br />"Legion Mk II--I couldn't add an individual to the Network, but I WAS able to allow her to receive certain instances of emotion. The negative ones in this instance. I was curious if I could make demons, perhaps? Hm hm hm. Well, that's neither here nor there. If you're hearing this I've been notified, as well as a friend, and that Legion is about to go berserk and kill you. Good luck~~!"<br /><br />The Legion suddenly screams, "WILL! DON'T LOOK AT ME! URAGGGHHH!!!!" Electricity crackles around her body, radio systems shut down from sheer proximity! And then, she turns, eyeing the various individuals present, and focusing ultimately on Kamon.<br /><br />"Priority Target... Kamon, kamon, won't you look at meeeee???" She laughs hysterically before gesturing with her hand at Kamon, a powerful magnetic pull centered around him and--

:'''[[Kamon Lionward]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kamon is not terribly concerned with the automated message. He /is/ concerned with the Legion 'Mark II' appearing. He turns towards her, running up to back up Will before anything happens. He's only dimly paying attention to Feige's prerecorded monologue. <br /><br />Fortunately, Kamon was warned that there might be a Dennou in-house. He figured that the extent of their power was to run up, pick him up via physically touching him, and then launching him this way and that. Nothing worse than a mage with Aero or Gravity, both of which he has trained to deal with. He's wearing that thick coat specifically to help negate that. Less skin to touch, less chance of them tossing him like a rag-doll. He gets most of the way to Will, suddenly jerking to a halt mid-step at the insane ramblings. "What -- what are you --"<br /><br />Kamon's arms snap to his side. His entire body tenses, pulled straight as an iron rod. He grinds his teeth together, eyes rolling into the back of his head. He tries to speak, but only manages a stifled, choking gasp and a sickening gurgling sound. He spasms, once, twice --<br /><br />The turf in front of Kamon is suddenly bathed in red. Cloth rips and blood sprays, chunks of something moving at blurring speed erupting out of the Odynar's body. He spasms again, screaming in utter agony. Lumps of red-soaked material gleam in the reddish light of the volcanic base, flying into one mass. More chunks of it join the rest from up and down him, tearing the front of his body into bloody ribbons.<br /><br />He finally goes still. The magnetic field that holds him abruptly goes away -- or, more accurately, the material it was holding him /with/ is no longer /inside/ him.<br /><br />Kamon collapses bonelessly to the ground, a mass of blood-soaked cloth and torn flesh.

:'''[[Alberic Lux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Which is when Feige's friend shows up.<br /><br />A man in a dark green coat wearing a patch over one eye strides into the room from behind the team of student-infiltrators. He walks with a casual, careless gait, following them as if he'd been part of their group the whole time. His eye is fixed on the gruesome sight for the entire duration. There was no indication here was there a moment ago, but he's definitely here /now/.<br /><br />"My, that was impressive," he says, to no one in particular. He's leaning on a white object like a cane, the thing about the length and shape of a bastard sword, but with no edge, no guard, and a ribbon of red color straight down the middle of it. He taps it against the floor for a moment, mulling something over. "I suppose that you're the intruders my associate mentioned. My name is Doctor Alberic Lux."<br /><br />He fixes his gaze on the girls in the back first. It's a cold thing, with a feeling like he was staring into their souls and weighing them as he did. It trails to Soan, and then to Will, his expression pleasant and totally false.<br /><br />"I am here to ensure that Dr. Abramson's 'Mark Two' does its job and to record the test deployment... and perhaps rid a mutual acquaintance of a certain pest in the process." His eye lingers on Alma. "Isn't science /wonderful/?"

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>The Legion Mk II swings her hand about, electricity guiding Kamon's iron blood. It is over in seconds. The iron ripples into a curved shape through the power of complex magnetic manipulation--before taking solid form--the form of a blade.<br /><br />"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!" She screams. "MY HEAD MY HEAD MY HEEEAAAAAAAD!!" Tears spill from her eyes, despite her wild, manic grin.<br /><br />She takes large swipes at the party, avoiding Will for the moment.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alma Hyral listens to the entirety of the message in her current state of shock. At the moment she's at the last of the failed Legion cylinders, a hand trailing down the glass. She doesn't know if they have souls, but she'd like to believe they do. She silently commends their spirits. <br /> <br /> All the emotional torture that Feige put her through... and the Legion node was already long dead. Of the Mark I series at least. She felt so very foolish. In the end she really had just been a science experiment to Feige. Like everyone else. Everything else. When the doors open, she turns to face the Legion Mark II. Her eyes were wet with tears, but her affect was just.. flat. <br /> <br /> Lately she'd had people who wondered if she was crazy. For her restrictive morals, her personality, her life choices, her anxious manner of speaking... she was just a plain neurotic mess, and she knew it. She often wondered if she truly had gone mad, and just didn't realize it. Had she been truly insane to trust Feige Abramsom, or simply gullible? <br /> <br /> A radiant yellow aureole appears over herself. And then Legion... she appears to kill Kamon. As Kamon's iron blood becomes a blade within Legion's hands, she just subtly shifts her gravity up so that she moves up, and then over, and then back down on top of Kamon's body, just barely missing the swings of the blade from Legion Mark II. A hand is placed against Kamon's neck. The pulse was really thready, and weak. <br /> <br /> Taking in a deep breath, that flat affect from Alma Hyral disappears... as she just smiles serenely at Alberic Lux, <br /> <br /> <span style="color:#FFD700">Yes it is.</span> <br /> <br /> And then she pours all of her effort into stabilizing Kamon's corpse which has been rent almost asunder, her healing manifesting as a soft, silvery glow, as she stimulates his anemic body's erythropoietin receptors to create new blood, and to stave off the symptoms of shock.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Inwardly, Kyra sighs. So Feige had been tricking Alma the whole time? Part of her isn't that surprised. <br /><br />Kamon? Kyra thinks. Why is that not-Dennou so interested in Kamon? The whole literal 'attraction' thing doesn't exactly occur to her, though she /does/ recall one of the other Dennous being seemingly affectionate at him. Well too bad for her because- <br /><br />Kamon starts to contort weirdly and Kyra's eyes widen because she is pretty familiar with Odynar anatomy. Due to all her time spent healing Kamon in particular, she knows about the metal in his body. She knows it's supposed to be inside. NOT LIKE...like... <br /><br />Kyra screams in terror. Lux's posturing is ignored completely as she runs across the field to the pile of flesh and blood and metal. "KAMON! KAMON NO!!!" <br /><br />Ironically, she's the only one hit by that flying blood. She doesn't care. It doesn't kill her. She powerslides her way up next to him and tears through one of her bandoliers, withdrawing a luminous white potion. There's a little lable wrapped around the tube for this one: emergency use only. <br /><br />It's slotted into her injector gun and jabbed into whatever mass of flesh she can find that's thick enough to accept the Elixir.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will stares at both Legon... <br /><br /> It's horrifying... <br /><br /> But not worse then what's beneath, Will snaps back like something is trying to grab at him. Will tries to cover his eyes, and he shakes in horror... <br /><br /> "Oh god..no.." he says, shaking.. <br /><br /> Loki rumbles in his prison...but not to get out. He SHAKES Will. "Not like this you little fool g-" <br /><br /> And then there was another. STrings...lots of strings...and then.. <br /><br /> Something so inhuman...so beyond anything even LOKI was taken back by this. <br /><br /> Will looses his turn out of sheer terror.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> A lot of things happens all at once. The first thing that happens is the ...Legion that comes out? She looks different. Insane, even. Feige's exposition would have made him grit his teeth, scowling very faintly. However, Soan was busy with another problem: the smell. He's usually fine with dealing with foes of darkness and not letting it show -- and he still is now -- but it takes some concentration, bitting his lips and digging his nails into his gloves to not let it show further more than that. In these times, Soan falls back to his staunch Dragoon Training, his meditations hitting his mind to take control again. A Dragoon that succumbs to the smell of Chaos is not a very good one. <br /> <br /> However, seeing his best friend getting ripped asunder like this, right before his eyes, is the water drop that makes the pot spill over. The Rogue rarely display emotions other than mild expressions. Soan is usually in control of himself. In this time, however, he can feel the rage that he learned to cultivate, that holy wrath he was taught to channel by the teaching of the First Ones, boil inside him. To even pour salt over the wounds, some guy show up. Associate of Feige, it make sense. Soan return the gaze when it tails on him. It is a determined one, undettered. <br /> <br /> "So." Soan says, his words dripping with menace, sharpened by the disgust of what he all just saw and smelled, as well as his grief for his friend. "You are the cleaner, doing Feige's little dirty work he couldn't be arsed to do himself." His eyes trails back to the MK II, spinning his blade. "Don't think you have us cornered yet!" <br /> <br /> He can't do anything for Kamon. He's not a healer. What he can do, however, is starting to fight. There is a comfort for him to fall back into the thousand-time practiced motions of reaching into his pouches, grabbing adhesive pellets while flinging them at the MK II, his sword going for the grotesquely made one the Legion is wielding. "WE WILL NOT ALLOW THIS TO STAND!"

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Seloria, standing in the back of the group, is not exactly the biggest target here, unless the Legion mistakes her for another Dennou. It could /probably/ happen, if it weren't for the green eyes. <br /> <br /> As such, she backs up and away, carefully avoiding a part of the blades, however she is sliced and diced a little bit - however, she ignores the blood, briefly wondering what would happen if she tried to emulate what she knows of Legion to act as a Legion/Dennou. <br /> <br /> POWER: Is that a wise idea? <br /> <br /> Answer: Who knows. <br /> <br /> Selly cannot do anything for Kamon. Kyra's adoration of the Odynar and Alma's divine magicks can do more there than Selly ever could. However, that is not important. Someone new strolls into the room, and basically threatens Alma. <br /> <br /> Letting out a huff of breath, Seloria looks up over her head, at the vibrant Divine, her smoky blue and yellow wings fluttering, lifts her hands up to her face and blows, the wind wrapping around the room, as harsh as it is invisible, except for where it picks up the dust. <br /> <br /> Then she makes a /bad/ decision (probably?), and both Divine and Summoner point at Alberic Lux. The wind and the a crack of thunder preceed a verifitable windstorm, followed by lightning.

:'''[[Kamon Lionward]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alma tries to save Kamon's life. She tries to force his ruined body to generate blood it sorely needs. It works, but... not entirely. He's bleeding fresh blood now, the innumerable wounds on him going to the bone. His pulse becomes /slighty/ stronger, but it isn't quite enough. She could keep him going until his body ran out of material to make new blood with, but...<br /><br />Kyra steps in to help. She gets covered in his blood, but doesn't slow down. The elixir drains out of the bottle and into his ruined body. He jerks as muscles spasm, the effect of the incredibly potent alchemical fluid working immediately, and to visible effect. The wounds where bone is visible knit closed, mortally-deep gashes becoming much more shallow but numerous. His pulse strengthens immediately. Color starts to come back to his skin, where it isn't covered in blood.<br /><br />Kamon Lionward is alive. But if you were to /lose/...

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO." Legion BLOT screams hoarsely. "UWAGGHH GOTTA KILL... KILL EVERYTHING THAT MAKES ME FEEL THIS!"<br /><br />"Legion Mk II is unfortunately wildly unpredictable, and surly, and has--to make a joke--a negative attitude." She laughs lightly at that. "Honestly, though, the negative receptors fuel what the doctor calls 'The Blot'. The taint reaches into her very bones, but despite her unpredictable nature, she still is much more pliable than The Network. The Network, unfortunately, is highly resistant to mental persuasion and can reject most outside influences. Of course, that is no problem for me, but it's only a matter of time before such tampering is uncovered. I think with the Mk IIIs we'll be able to obtain one that can be purely under the domain of their controllers. It's not really what the project was for, but I think they'll be more useful than the Black Mages in the long run. They're much better at /learning/. Unfortunately, mass producing on a scale such as Black Mages will prove to be inconvenient. A problem! We'll have to think about that, table the discussion for now though."<br /><br />Will Sherman uses the opportunity to recover, but Soan goes on the offensive. Soan manages to shatter the blade with a strike and as the Legion BLOT tries to reform the blade, smacks her about with the pellets. She grunts, and picks up an iron shard, carving her own arm to spray red blood and black fluids into Soan's face.<br /><br />"Will.. help.... But don't look. Don't look...what they did. I didn't ask for this, Will. I love you Will. You're so scary, I can't hate you."<br /><br />She grabs at her head and screams again, electricity ripples around her and fans out wildly at Alma, Kyra, and Will! Black corruption ripples across the edges of the electric arc.<br /><br />"Of course, the delaying was only strictly neccessary until I could make a living clone. So if I tried to kill you at this point, Alma, then that's sorta why! Neat huh? Well, I'll be careful juuuust in case of spoilers. DOn't you hate people who spoil movies? I do!"

:'''[[Alberic Lux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Meanwhile, Lux watches the would-be heroes rush off to fight the Legion Mark II. He inhales deeply, smelling and tasting the air. He eyes the clone, and very slightly frowns in its direction. His eye flicks to Soan, and he lifts a hand, waggling a finger. "Tut tut. I am no 'cleaner.' A friend and comrade asked if I would be so kind as to lend my aid, and so here I am. Honestly, I'm insulted at the insinuation that I am some manner of garden-variety criminal."<br /><br />Seloria and her Summon gesture at Lux. Wind whips up, and his coattails flutter in the sudden gale. He slides one foot back to steady himself, raising his hand in front of his face as bits of dirt and torn-up turf fly at him. Suddenly, lightning flashes, a many-tined bolt slashing through the air at him. The thing sticking out of the ground swings up and into one hand.<br /><br />"Damocles," he whispers. The object brightens, glowing with an inner luminescence. Alberic casually sweeps it into the path of the lightning bolts. They strike the edge of the weapon, and the metal seems to ripple from the impact, like pebbles dropping into water. The electricity is drawn inward, sparks crackling along the length of the object. The sides shift, flattening to razor-fine edges.<br /><br />Doctor Lux is unmoved. He changes his stance, holding the weapon like a one-handed sword with no shield. He flicks his other hand towards the group of them. Space contorts, and a cluster of white-grey balls of energy, like compressed stormclouds, fly free of his hand. They explode on impact, bursting into monochromatic explosions that shatter objects and people with equal ease. He takes a step forward and catapults himself off the ground, rushing straight into the student body and flitting past them with incredible agility. His sword is outlined in purest white, a narrow band encircling the keen edge -- one that leaves shallow wounds as he passes, and a flicker of blinding light. That is definitely /not/ the darkness one would expect from a friend of Feige's.<br /><br />"Insulted," he repeats, sounding mildly annoyed.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will screams as it overtakes him. <br /><br /> He can feel it...he can feel her. The taint...it tries to get in him again. But he THROWS it off. Attempting to grip Will's fate is like trying to grab a electrical wire and NOT be a Dennou. <br /><br /> His eyes snap open, looking right towards the thing inside her. <br /><br /> "I'll save you!" he says suddenly determined...the energy crackles around him. "I SWEAR!" he says, even as it tears THROUGH him...he dives towards Beetle, trying to jump left and right, trying to get in close to her. Strings to to tangle him up, as he tears through them, ripping through the fate that holds him down, and tries to punch the Dennou. <br /><br /> "I'm sorry!" he says, but then reaches DEEPER. At the darkness that stains her. Obscures her fate...he'll DESTROY IT! <br /><br /> "BREAK FREE!" he demands, pouring his energy into it..trying to shatter it!

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Despite the state of tranquility that called to her, she still felt numb. A biting numbness which was still assaulting her even here. She couldn't feel at peace. She didn't feel /anything/. Her snarky comment to Lux had been mostly a reflexive retort. <br /> <br /> Once she felt the pulse of life within Kamon quicken to the point where he was suitably stable.. for now. She rose once again off the ground. She stared impassively at Alberic Lux. Grey balls of energy strike her. And she screeches in pain as it strikes one of her hands. A healing light would start to work already at her injuries, but it would hurt. Strangely the Corona around her grew brighter. <br /> <br /> Legion's lightning then struck her, and she began to spasm, her trajectory in the air changing and waivering as she almost swooned from the pain. The Corona changed from yellow, to blinding white light. But then she recovered... she recovered and she began to focus on the task at hand. <br /> <br /> She snaked out a hand within the voluminous sleeves of her robe, and pressed both hands against two points in the air. Two luminescent sigils formed, and pulsed into life. Then she placed both of her palms together, and a much larger one formed over her head. <br /> <br /> Pressing her hands against each sigil, she manipulated her fingers against each. Each time her fingers touched them, a small pulse of light played across the surface, and the arrays within changed subtly. <br /> <br /> Then from each of the sigils erupted a large number of small pinpricks of light, each one trailing sparks. They'd move towards Alberic Lux, altering their course, and flanking him from both sides, before they'd erupt into tiny blossoms of radiant burning light. <br /> <br /> While these were homing in on the man. Above her head, a much larger globe of light would form, flaring into life with radiance like it a tiny fusion reaction forming within it. As the stars homed in on him, she'd state in that same eerie voice which sounded serenely impassive, <br /> <br /> <span style="color:#FFD700">Altair, effulgent guide of the Southwestern skies...</span> <br /> <br /> She'd make a flicking motion with her wrist, and it would streak towards Lux in a straight line. <br /> <br /> <span style="color:#FFD700">You wear the light well, it is akin to a shroud.</span> <br /> <br /> And then, assuming it struck, Lux would have the mildly unpleasant sensation of a minor fusion reaction occurring on top of him, which would be suprisingly well contained. <br /> <br /> <span style="color:#FFD700">The wise fear the light, just as strongly as the dark.</span> <br /> <br /> That corona around her would become a yellow light once again.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> This is not going well, Soan tell himself in his mind, gritting his teeth as he get blood in his face, stinging, burning into him despite his best efforts at ignoring it. He disengages away from the MK II, his cold, wrathfull battle meditation turned at Lux as he replies to him. He testingly spin his sword in his hand as he raises his buckler to defend himself against the blasts of energy, batting away at them. Then, perhaps feeling like it was a good idea, he clashes sword against sword, with his other hand trying to grab it away from him. <br /> <br /> It dosen't work. <br /> <br /> Soan spits on the ground some blood, reeling back from the cut and various energy blasts, glaring evenly at Lux. A smirk comes up on his lips, followed by a low chuckle. "Oh, call yourself what you want. You may be right that you are assisting a friend and a comrade, but your actions says different." <br /> <br /> Alma calls upon her stranger powers as Soan charges foward back at Lux, charging straight in to ram with his buckler and his sword. While being this close, with lightning quick hand movement only known to a thief, he leaves a present while riffling the Doctor's pocket. <br /> <br /> A present that explodes up in a cloud of sleeping powder.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>As she sees Kamon start to heal up, Kyra's rapidly beating heart starts to slow just slightly. It doesn't keep the tears from gathering in her eyes and spilling over her cheeks. Once he starts looking more like a person and less like a mangled pile of flesh, she pulls the Odynar closer to her and hugs him. "Kamon....Kamon Kamon Kamon..." she murmurs, her eyes closed. <br /><br />Kyra makes an oddly good shield against the electricity. It's as if the stuff was attracted to her. A yelp escapes her and she looks over her shoulder. <br /><br />"I'm not sorry." <br /><br />Energy surges through Kyra's tiny form, the magic practically whiting out her skin, completely obscuring her eyes. "Your experiment-" she pushes herself up to her feet, her hood flopping backwards, barely visible amongst the corona of holy energy surrounding her. Those astute will noticce that the teenager seems to be barely controlling the magic she's gathering-and it keeps building up too. She doesn't want to stop. <br /><br />The spell inally strikes down from the ceiling, like an orbital bombardment that decided to ignore little inconveniences like a volcano being in the way. IT'S MAGIC, DAMNIT. <br /><br />"-is being CANCELED."

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Lux .. cuts away the wind. <br /> <br /> Sylph, above Seloria's head, stares. <br /> Seloria, underneath Sylph, stares. <br /> <br /> It's like a two-for-one-staring combo. <br /> <br /> However, there is SUDDEN FIREBALL and SUDDEN BLADE and Seloria throws herself to the side, utilizing an extreme burst of speed to move out of the way, before her fingers slowly slide to cover her face. <br /> <br /> Great. This is like. <br /> <br /> A wonderful way to spend her evening. <br /> <br /> Sylph sulks and disappears, Siren appearing, both of them frowning, before she starts singing and then slowly fades away into utter nothingness.

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Legion BLOT's body shakes. Will risks his own soul to dive into the BLOT (that only he can see). He rips through it, wildly, to an outside observer it might seem nuts--at least if you don't know WIll.<br /><br />It's a deadly risk. He ALMOST manages to grasp it, but it's slippery stuff--and in doing so, he realizes he's opening himself for the BLOT to reach into him. Will is a lucky guy and that is why he finds himself forcefully propelled away from the Fate Strings before they can reach into him, whether he wants to be pushed away yet or not.<br /><br />Is he willing to try again despite the risk? Or is he going to try something else?<br /><br />Legion BLOT slides back, grabbing at her face. "Don't touch me! Kill me kill me kill me, why did I have to be made?? Cronus is gone now," not actually true. "Revenge is ours! Let me diiiiieeee!!" She shrieks.<br /><br />Kyra unleashes a wave of orbital bombardment from the ceiling. It slams into the Legion BLOT with such force it even burns away the majority of the Blot escaping her body. She slams down to the ground, unable to get up until the bombardment finishes.<br /><br />She reaches out and grabs a shard of Kamon's iron, standing herself up slowly.<br /><br />She flicks it into the air, looking at Kyra with a bloody face. "Hhnnnhhh.... Hurt me, hurt me, hurt me..."<br /><br />And then she flicks it--unleashing a powerful electromagnetically propelled shard for Kyra's body! Some of you have seen this before.

:'''[[Alberic Lux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lux moves in. Soan tries to take advantage of his frontal assault, proving his skill as a swordsman in deflecting the worst of the Doctor's attacks. That strange weapon slips past his guard once or twice, leaving him bloodied but still fully capable of fighting. Soan's deft fingers go to try and swipe the weapon in his hand, perhaps to end this fight sooner rather than later.<br /><br /><span class=" bold_fg_w bg_b ++ hBw"> Couldn't steal! </span><br /><br />No dice.<br /><br />Alma throws something strange at him. Lux recognizes powerful magic when he sees it. He cocks his head for a second, hopping back a step from Soan. "Well then," Alberic calls to Alma, "I can certainly tell you do not count yourself among the wise, child. Damocles!" Lux's weapon shines again. Soan steps in as the motes surround the scientist, and he turns to face him, deflecting the sword with a casual swipe and getting socked by the buckler for good measure. He grunts in pain, stumbling a step.<br /><br />He recovers almost immediately. Alma's shining lights flare, bathing him in burning light. The sword in his hand folds in on itself, smooting and rounding, suddenly extending. He jams the quarterstaff into the ground, a ring of small, smoky characters intercepting the larger ball of light while the smaller ones burn him. He doesn't scream -- instead, he laughs, a deep, wild thing escaping his throat as pain shoots through his body.<br /><br />Sleeping powder hits him. His grip on his weapon slackens for just an instant. The ring wavers. He draws himself back up. "Do you /truly/ believe --" he starts, just before Siren's song reaches his ears. He stumbles again. The barrier holding back the larger pulse falters again. "-- that such /parlor tricks/ --"<br /><br />That was enough. It breaks through. There's a blinding flash, and Lux disappears in the conflagration. A huge chunk of turf is vaporized, turned to dust by the brilliant light unleashed by Alma Hyral. When it disappears, there's no one at the centerpoint... but there /are/ four shadows, burned into the dirt, of the man holding the staff viewed from four different angles.<br /><br />He reappears suddenly, airborne. He's smoldering. His coat is a lighter shade, bleached by the intensity of the light. His staff shifts into a greatsword, smoothly edged and titanic in his hands. He comes down at Alma with a colossal slash, the edge of the weapon suddenly becoming hazy and surrounded by a corona of the smoke-like substance he hurled at them before. Ruinous power surges through it, a horizontal wave of entropic might cutting downward and splitting when it hits the ground, becoming two walls of grey energy that tears across the surface of the lab.<br /><br />"-- can defeat one such as /I/?!"<br /><br />Meanwhile, Soan's pickpocketing hand is now clutching an assembly of gears and pistons that doesn't do anything in particular. It might be valuable as a synthesis component.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will watches as the Rail gun gets leveled at them.. <br /><br /> "Wa-" And then Soan is there, protecting Kyra from the devistating attack. Will winces...these kids, they don't know what it is they are facing. He can see it...the terrible thing beneath her... <br /><br /> He has one chance...one more chance he has to risk to try and force it out. If he fails... <br /><br /> If he fails then he can't take another chance at their lives... <br /><br /> He clenches a fist. He brings the memories of the other Dennous's into his heart. Umi's carefree nature, Omi's serious face, Imi's patience, Ami's love, and Emi...the glue that brings them all together. <br /><br /> His eyes blaze...if there was any ONE moment... <br /><br /> Then something wakes up in Will. Loki opens his eyes, he too touched by the Dennous...they were, beyond anyone else, helped stablizet he connection... <br /><br /> "GO!" they say...the energy crackes...stepping forward...his hands BURNING with magical energy beyond anything that he's mustered before... <br /><br /> He aims to grab the blot again, risking their souls...but for once, Will and Loki agree on one thing. <br /><br /> It must die. This poor girl must be freed... <br /><br /> And Feige Amberson will /SUFFER/ <br /><br /> If he grabs it, there is a combined force, as the ground itself shakes threatening to shatter as they both shout... <br /><br /> "SHATTER!"

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Vaguely at the back of her mind, she'd made the decision not to attack Legion because.. despite what she did to Kamon, she was still a life being controlled by Feige. She didn't want her destroyed, she wanted her freed. <br /> <br /> She'd try not to think about it's threat to /pop/ Dragoon Man and Emi's heads off until later. <br /> <br /> This scientist friend of Feige's though? Something about him offended her in every possible way. <br /> <br /> And thus, she felt no compunction to hold back. The entropic energy of his attack hurls her across the room, and she lands against one of the Legion tanks with a rough, sickening thud. It took her some time to recover.. but time was on her side.<br /> <br /> <span style="color:#FFD700">When did I ever claim to be wise?</span> <br /> <br /> Shifting her focus, time dilates around her. She moves about the room at a hyperfast speed, her pattern chaotic, but in reality it had perfect order to it. At every point that she touched, large, luminescent sigils formed. Alberic Lux would now have the vague sense that he was surrounded by a ring of eleven of them... with another seven above him. Twenty-two more sigils were behind the spot where Alma hung suspended in the air. <br /> <br /> When she stopped, two more arrays formed in her hands instantly, as she began to subtly shift and manipulate them again. <br /> <br /> Eleven Sigils formed in a ring around him, a coruscating light linking them and forming. A pattern known to uranography the Land of Dragons as Ophiuchus, and as Serpentarius in the apocryphal Zodiac of Ivalice. <br /> <br /> <span style="color:#FFD700">Great Serpent of the Zodiac, of the Azure Dragon of the East and the Black Tortoise of the North... strike.</span> <br /> <br /> Overlaying the constellation, would be a translucent blue image of a great serpent, which would immediately constrict, coiling about Lux in an attempt to restrict his movements in the short term. It's head would rise, the stars representing it's lidded eyes staring down upon him, before it would surge forth and try to bite at him with glowing fangs. Each one was a razor of light, and would cause burns, rather than actual bleeding wounds. <br /> <br /> Another seven sigils would form above him, coruscating lines of energy joining them into the pattern of a constellation from the Land of Dragons and Galianda both. <br /> <br /> <span style="color:#FFD700">Phoenix of the White Tiger of the West and the Southern asterisms... patron of physicians.. your rebirth is at hand.</span> <br /> <br /> That would form into the pattern of a translucent blue firebird overlaying the constellation, which would swoop down upon Lux.. the serpent would instantly uncoil, allowing Lux to be embraced by it's wings. And then the hard light construct would catch fire, with burning white flames, while he was still within it's embrace. That construct would explode into a great pyre of light, it's stars immediately disappearing. <br /> <br /> And then perhaps in honor of Soan... twenty two sigils would form in a pattern representing a centaur, firing a bow. <br /> <br /> <span style="color:#FFD700">Sagittarius of the Zodiac... may your arrows blot out all iniquity.</span> <br /> <br /> This constellation would not be animated. Instead all twenty two of the stars shine, then blaze forth into streaks of light which fall upon Alberic Lux with all the wrath that the light can bring. Each one that actually managed to strike him, caused a giant, controlled explosion of painful luminescence. Then she states in a mildly reproving tone, <br /> <br /> <span style="color:#FFD700">Parlor tricks, prestidigitation, sleight of hand, do you truly think that is /all/ this is?</span>

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Seloria smiles. <br /> <br /> Then she claps her hands together. "Siren, Queen of the songs and the silence that surrounds it, Sylph, mother of the divines and queen of he who rules them, let your wisdom and songs guide and bless those in need..." <br /> <br /> Holy light rolls down and over Alma and Soan, those who are pushing themselves to help.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Gears are pocketed with due haste, as it is Soan's due when he steals in middle of a battle. He has little time to pay attention to what it was. More important things than material gain at this case. From the corner of his eyes, he can see the MK II Dennou shaking, that foul darkness still attacking all his senses, namely his smell. He see what she is trying to do, at who she is aiming it at. <br /> <br /> Time slow down as he realises it's Kyra. <br /> <br /> There's a blurr of motion, the Rogue disengaging Lux, leaving him vulnerable to his counter attack of his insolent assault earlier. Energy tears into him, ruinous power that seeks to corrupt his body. It hurts, it wounds him. But he strides on. <br /> <br /> There's a spray of blood as Soan throws himself in the way of the improvised, fell railgun. He rose his shield up to shield himself. He tensed his body, ready to take it on. All that results for naught, shattering through the buckler and imbeding itself deep into the Thief's stomach. <br /> <br /> Soan remains immobile, blood dripping from the wound created by the iron shard, solid, like a statue, staring ahead at tha maddened Dennou. That poor thing... was she corrupted from the start? Is there nothing they can do? He doubt he could purifiy some corruption that instrinstic in that woman. Weakly, Soan turn around, looking at Kyra, smiling a bit at her as an hand drops to his wound. <br /> <br /> <br /> He dosen't say anything, just one of his faint, self-assured smile, deformed by the pain he's feeling now. The smile he always make when he comes out of the blue, from around a corner, as if he knew what was going on. That smile, that look, that tingle in his eyes. This stare, it was him making sure she's alright, just by the way he was looking at her, wordlessly nodding. <br /> <br /> A crazy idea forms up in his mind. It's worth a shot. Desperate situations asks for desperate responses. "I'm sorry, Dennou -- perhaps... hurk!" Soan coughs up some blood, which he wipes with his sleeve as he advances, abandoning his broken buckler. "Perhaps we can't save you. But I'll try to make your suffering end." He stumbles foward, holding his wound with his now free hand, while his other reach into his pouch, taking out a vial, containing a faintly glowing liquid. "And I'm sure as hell going to try it!" <br /> <br /> With energy returning, Soan lunges at the Legion, with two things in minds: one, use the Holy Water vial to contain himself, as well as protect himself as he goes to crush the BLOT, using it's light as a sledge hammer. It's the best he can do as an attempt of purification right now. Maybe he'll get other chances, if she don't die. <br /> <br /> Or if HE don't die.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>The BLOT clearly seems to be some kind of darkness construct. Then, in theory, the light would be effective in destroying it. It was basic magical chemistry, no? Kyra's reflected wrath seems pretty effective. Already bleeding from the head herself due to earlier wounds, Kyra glares archly at Legion MK II. "There's more where that came from." Kyra says quietly, reaching for her gun. Her /real/ gun. <br /><br />Far too fast, a sharp piece of Kamon's blood is shot at her, electromagnetically charged. It's far too fast for Kyra to react to! But there is a blur out of the corner of her eye and in an instant, Soan is standing in front of her. Bleeding. Pierced by the shard. "Soan!" she cries out, "No, not you too!" One classmate being mutilated was more than enough. <br /><br />Reaching forward, she puts her hands on Soan's shoulders and channels some healing magic into him. It's the least she could do right now. They had to keep going-they had to kill the Legion MK II!

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>The TV which has been silent for a bit pops back in, this time it's Feige in REAL TIME.<br /><br />"Ah Lux, I'm on my ... oh, this doesn't look good." Feige says. "Golly, there's Blot everywhere." She shakes her head.<br /><br />Will grasps hold of the Blot along t he fate lines. It pushes against him, trying to push inside, but Will--he can't be sure it's luck or just powering through. It's tough to tell. He probably doesn't want to make a habit of this, but this time--it pulls through. Maybe even a corrupted fate can be changed.<br /><br />The taint isn't entirely pulled free--Will wouldn't be able to do that without killing her--but he does manage to get a good chunk. That is it's own problem.<br /><br />The Blot manifests itself in Will's hands. It's like oil, paint even. Blot is certainly a fitting name. It slides down his arms, trying to sink in through his pores.<br /><br />Legion BLOT screams in horrific agony, it's not quite unlike a death scream. And then she drops to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. She drops to the ground, blood and blot pouring out from numerous wounds. The fate lines are a bit blurry from such treatment, but Soan can smell the taint is much lighter on her.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the taint is ever stronger in Will's arms. And he lunges to try and protect himself, crushing at the BLOT. Unfortunately, apparently HOLINESS doesn't seem as super effective as it'd like.<br /><br />The Blot spreads, rippling across Will and Soan, trying to push through the former's eyes, the latter through his nose and ears, bubbling and gurgling.<br /><br />Soan can hear a whisper, "There is no Soan."<br /><br />Will can hear a whisper, "To die, to sleep, to sleep perchance, to dream..."<br /><br />And to both, "Thinner, thinner, thinner..."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will's power is overflowing...combination of litterally making fate do what HE wants, power, and brute forcing things cause some...interesting effects. The BLOT tries to seep into him, but SOLID gold strands wrap around it. Trying to protect himself first...but not Soan. He curses...that poor lad...but he can'd do anything about it now! <br /><br /> Will looks towards the lava...that would have to do. A heat so burning...so pure that could burn the blot into nothingness. Will starts to drag, even as he tries to force the blot towards the lava...he can do it. The force of Loki working as one... <br /><br /> Legon cheers him on over the radio, and Will's vigor is restored. <br /><br /> Will doesn't put his back into it... <br /><br /> He puts BOTH OF HIS HEARTS into this. <br /><br /> CHAOS DUNK!

:'''[[Alberic Lux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>The world around Lux begins to change. Points of light spring up in fast-forward, surrounding him in a cage of brilliance. He adjusts his grip on Damocles, the weapon folding in on itself again and compacting down to a slender one-handed sword once more. He looks for a way out, but doesn't have the time. Power coils around him, holding him in place; wings drop, sorrounding him; lights close in, twenty-two points swooping inward.<br /><br />Alma calls down the thunder. The result is spectacular. The crater it leaves cuts all the way through the floor and into the volcano itself, parting the veritable sea of magma beneath. A sudden bloom of heat shoots upwards where the turf used to be, the blinding radiance annihilating the ground beneath the one-eyed man.<br /><br />Magma erupts from the hole. It shoots upwards, the entire bio-laboratory shaking. The geyser rises to the blackened figure that is Alberic Lux, and washes over him. It caps out, beginning to mushroom and fall --<br /><br />There is a crackling noise. The magma-geyser darkens, the intense heat that comes with the molten rock lessening. It slows in its downward spread, darkening to blackness and solidity. It gleams in the light of the chamber, a titanic chunk of solid obsidian, a spear jutting out of the volcano before Alma Hyral, her opponent trapped within.<br /><br />Without warning, there is a flicker of light. A hairline, vertical and perfectly straight, briefly flashes in sight over the surface of the obsidian spear. A second follows, a horizontal ring visible for an instant. With a cacophonic ringing, the sound of glass and stone tearing like tissue paper echoes in the enclosed chamber, and the top half of the mass of obsidian simply slides off and crashes to the floor. One chunk lands precariously close to Seloria; the second hits one of the experiment tanks, crushing it with the groan of twisting metal and a lesser sound of breaking glass.<br /><br />And there's Lux.<br /><br />Alberic stands on the top of the obsidian spire, Damocles glowing with divine power. He's bloodied and burned, his face covered in soot and ash. His eye-patch is gone, falling away with one of the halves of the obsidian spire. Beneath it, the thing that replaced his eye is plainly visible, a crystal orb marked with a strange, angular symbol that burns with leashed power. Wisps of cold blue-white light flow off of the 'eye' like flickering flames, blown to his right by a strong breeze. When he exhales, his breath comes in a cloud of mist, despite the rising heat in the chamber.<br /><br />"No," says Alberic Lux. "It is not parlor tricks. It is not prestidigitation. It is not sleight of hand." Lux's right foot moves fractionally.<br /><br />Suddenly, he's airborne. He's directly in front of Alma, an aura of frigid air so cold surrounding him that it threatens to suck the breath from her lungs. He stares her in the eye, the symbol branded onto the orb in his eye-socket standing out starkly in contrast to his soot-stained features. The cold is gradually relenting, but not fast enough. There's a haze of magic around him, a sort of buzz like background radiation.<br /><br />"It is children," Lux says, enunciating clearly and speaking slowly, "playing with toys they cannot /hope/ to understand."<br /><br />Alberic turns into something not unlike a second sun. He erupts into a font of holy power, surrounded by a corona of light that burns outward, a purifying light that purges the darkness in the hearts of all mankind and strips away the impurities of the flesh. It catches hold of anyone near enough to be touched by its radiance, a sphere of blank whiteness that reaches out to engulf everything and tear away at the very impurities that makes one human. It is anathemic to the existence of humankind, an absolute on the end of the spectrum so rarely seen.<br /><br />Or perhaps merely a /spark/ of it.<br /><br />A shockwave follows the font of power. It ripples through the room, cracking instrument displays and filling the lab with the sounds of thunder. A deep THOOM, THOOM, THOOM, rising in volume with each successive wave of awesome power. The obsidian spire vibrates with each one, cracks spreading through the pieces. It starts to come apart, torn into razor-sharp pieces that shoot in every direction like flechettes of black glass.<br /><br />It just makes it that much more terrifying.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Oh good, she is coming." Kyra grits her teeth, not quite letting go of Soan yet. "I need to speak with Feige about -so- many things right now. It's a pity I haven't met her before this, given how much trouble she's caused my little sister." <br /><br />The light that follows, this time it isn't the scathing, purging bombardment from earlier. Soan is no stranger to it either-he's one of the few that Kyra seems capable of focusing enough to properly apply white magic to. It simply floods him, all of Kyra's remaining magical energy draining into him.

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Soan has more pressing things than worry about the smell of the taint, while still quite overpowering. His own blood takes much of the smelling space, as if it were. What he wasn't expecting, however, was a psychic attack, the sheer Filth assaulting his mind, his eyes, his eyes, nose, being disgusting. <br /> <br /> The Thief does his best to not scream, in order to not give it a bigger way to come in. His delivery dealt, his eyes close, reaching to his ears, closing them, clamping them shut, throwing his voice out. Most of this would be quite fine if he was standing on the ground -- admist it all, admist the impact, Soan Sagittarius was thrown off, clean off the edge, tumbling down a crevice down below. Kyra can tell that her spell hits him, he already looks better, bleeding less -- but there is still the problems of the BLOT, which sends him down plummeting, losing his balance. <br /> <br /> The Blot assaults his mind, taunts him, threatens to infect him, become one with things. He's weak, his mind vaguely swimming into it as he keeps falling. Memories of his time in Bahamut, his training. It claims it has stolen something from him. What, he don't know. <br /> <br /> "Nobody... steals from /me/!" Soan mutters as his form, still falling, glows with an intense light, springing from the depth of his soul, sharpened by what will he have, surging forth with the rage of the Dragons. He will not accept Darkness trying to corrupt him. Armor forms from the wisps of light, spreading over his body, slamming his body shut. He's weak, but it'll have to do. Clawing at the ground, DRAGOON MAN leaps back upward in an arc, back up through the crevise. <br /> <br /> He has no idea if it's going to do anything, but at this point, desperate measures calls for it. <br /> <br /> "YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED!" He shouts as he bring his spear, literally exploding in a shower of purificating light.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Focus is a double-edged sword. While it will convey access to incredible amounts of magical power and feats of healing, well... <br /><br />Kyra, admittedly, was not paying all that much attention to Alberic and Alma and Seloria over there. She had no idea that she would be getting targeted, especially since this strange man seemed so hell-bent on destroying her sister on behalf of Feige. She damn well couldn't split her attention too well between him and the Legion MK II. <br /><br />He catches her completely off guard, Kyra surprised to find herself filled with a scathing light that isn't her own. For a brief moment as it burns through her, she wonders if this is what it feels like to be on the receiving end of her magic. She doesn't even get a chance to scream and crumples to the ground in a heap next to Kamon. <br /><br />The follow-up shockwave sends both of their bodies flying several feet in a tangle. Kyra groans in pain.

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> The light flickers. There is noise, and it is above all, terrible and awful. The man stands on top of the obsidian spire, her face turning to observe him. He tells them that - it is children, playing with toys they cannot hope to understand. <br /> <br /> A almost /bitter/ smile crosses Seloria's face. <br /> <br /> The shockwave knocks her to the side, and she is cut, and smashed a bit. She does not take the severe attack that Kyra does, thanks to her nimble movement - yet she does not have Alma's perfect dodge. She is just there. <br /> <br /> She comes out on the other end - <br /> <br /> Not exactly completely harmed, but not pleased. <br /> <br /> Over her head, the rainbow-colored, beautiful Divine crosses her arms, before she starts singing - but it is not a song of sound, but a song of complete and total silence, one that is focused on completely shutting down Lux. <br /> <br /> She is tired of listening to him talk, it seems.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Seloria's healing song washes over her. For the first time since she entered this room, emotion enters onto her expression, her flat affect becoming a small smile. She watches Soan's desperate attempt to shield her sister, and that smile evaporates away like morning due. Soan leaps to purify Legion, and she turns back to her opponent. But then the BLOT... even though it doesn't touch her. Even though it's nowhere near her, her gaze shifts to stare at it, they could almost hear the neckbones of her vertebrae creaking as she does so. As if it were out of some horror movie, with the door itself creaking in response to some horror lurking beyond. <br /> <br /> Discordant notes creep into the song.. and her focus, just slips away from the sheer disharmony of it. It's akin to a bullet being fired into a pane of glass in her mind. <br /> <br /> Her neck turns back to Alberic, and even though she wasn't using her abilities, it was akin to time slowing down from the sheer horror of Alberic Lux unleashing his light. He was akin to a second sun of Holy Power. She knew what would happen if she was struck by this. And so she tried something extraordinarily desperate. <br /> <br /> Zipping to the ground suddenly, the spark of white power came at her. She drew her arm back. /Have to time this right. Have to time this /just right/./ <br /> <br /> As it was just about to reach her.. she cut her arm forward in a wild motion. The Aureole around her was loosed from her form... and began to surge forward into the comet of radiance. As it did...it parted the doom that was approaching her way. <br /> <br /> Alma's aura was a magic singularity. An energy absorbing, conversion phenomena. Normally, she'd stand no chance of dodging this, as the energy would be /drawn/ right into it. As the crackling corona of holy power continued forward at a wild arc, it continued to surge forward, parting the shockwave as well. It's trajectory was /wild/. Exceptionally wild, as it went past Lux, and struck the wall behind him. He would feel only the slightest ripple of the massive explosion, with some of his own energies still contained within it, a good distance behind him in the midst of the crumbling laboratory. <br /> <br /> Then she's on her knees, panting, desperately trying to regain her focus. <br /> <br /> "I understand it...better than you think.f"

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Legion BLOT continues to lie on the ground, bleeding. It seems to be having a moment of peace, at least.<br /><br />The Blot pulled free by Will is not so lucky. It lashes out at Will Sherman, it lashes out at Soan, but ultimately it is thrown into the lava.<br /><br />It is not destroyed by lava, though it doesn't seem especially comfortable in there.<br /><br />Instead there is a sudden appearance by DRAGOON MAN who slams his spear through the lava (What the crap!!) and into the Blot. The Blot squibbles and straings and then--<br /><br />---thins away into nothingness. Those prior struck and 'infected' hear the whispers ... mostly ... die away, and get quieter, quieter, quieter--by the following day, it'll be gone.<br /><br />"...Gosh." Feige says, "I didn't expect this... you didn't kill the Legion, AND you destroyed the Blot. Well," She sighs. "It's just a small droplet. I suppose it's good to know what it takes."<br /><br />She scribbles a few notes before adding, "Imi?"<br /><br />Imi walks on over onto the viewscreen. Her eyes are blank. "Yes...." She says monotonally.<br /><br />"Set off the volcano."<br /><br />"...Yes...."<br /><br />Imi reaches forward and pushes a button--!!!!<br /><br />And...<br /><br />...<br /><br />...Nothing happens.<br /><br />ELSEWHERE, IN THE CONTROL ROOM<br /><br />Max apparently took the liberty to sabotage Feige's Self Destruct Sequence Controls. That scamp!<br /><br />"...PHANTOM! THIEF! MAAAAAAAAAAARS!!!!" Feige shakes her fists into the air. "BAH!!! WILL! WILL! YOU LISTEN TO ME!"<br /><br />Feige presses her face up to the TV. "You want to know how I knew everything? /How I knew about your wife/? I installed a virus into Imi, it let me see everything the Network saw... and more..." She chuckles lightly. "Soon I'll seize control of them all, all I need to do is input the command code. If you want to save them, I want Isaac! I want Isaac to visit the Castle of Oblivion! You tell him... I may not be able to kill my little experiment, but I can certainly make them mine..."<br /><br />She pauses a moment and adds, "Lux, dear? You're there, yes? Thank you for coming, but it seems this is a wash. Please don't put yourself in any more danger. I owe you one."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will stares at Feige. <br /><br /> His eyes. They burn. They burn with a fire...a hatred that Will has never shown anyone. Two sources of hate burn, and they stare right at Feige. <br /><br /> "We will do this, Fiege. You, will, however, bring Imi and yourself to the castle too." He says, "You might think we are not in a position to argue, but if anything happens to her...or if you try anything with the other Dennous..." <br /><br /> Will stops speaking. You can FEEL it. He speaks in a language older than any...but you /FEEL HIS WORDS/. <br /><br /> <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">I will tear your fate assunder. I will tear and tear until nothing is left. I will MAKE you unexist, Feige. It will hurt. You will scream. An eternity of agony. <br /><br /> Then will speaks again, "We have terms, correct?"</span>

:'''[[Alberic Lux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>The singularity flies at Lux. He tilts his head, as if curious. It flies over his shoulder, hitting the far wall and exploding in an eruption of light and sound. Chips of rubble fly out and pelt him, catching against his coat. He jerks forward slightly from the impact, standing over Alma like a vengeful god. The chill is fading, and the radiance has gone away. He seems... weary. Diminished, maybe.<br /><br />He starts to open his mouth to say something -- and then that blasted song hits his ears. He stops for a second, shivering. It's a terrible song, he thinks. Why would you /bother/? He turns back to Alma.<br /><br />Alberic Lux says, "..."<br /><br />A pause. He frowns, massaging his throat. He opens his mouth again.<br /><br />Alberic Lux says, "..."<br /><br />He lets out a long-suffering and completely silent sigh.<br /><br />Lux drops to the ground. He looks around for a second, and walks -- nay, /saunters/ -- across the ruined laboratory floor. He stops at the heap of bodies that is Kyra and Kamon. He tilts his head for a second and mouths something. "..." is all that comes out. He bends over, swatting aside a barely-mobile hand that starts to raise from the still incredibly wounded Kamon. He gives him and Kyra a look, and then reaches out, running a finger down one side of her bandolier. He snaps his fingers (also silently), plucking a small bottle off of her large number of them. With a slight frown, he pulls a different one out of a pocket and drops it into Kyra's hand.<br /><br /><span class=" bold_fg_w bg_b ++ hBw"> YOU LOST: Remedy x1! </span><br /><span class=" bold_fg_w bg_b ++ hBw"> YOU GOT: Ether x1! </span><br /><br />Alberic drinks the contents of the bottle. He makes a face. "Eugh, home-made. Someone introduce this girl to the concept of natural sweetener." He drops the empty bottle and saunters back over towards Alma. "As I was saying..."<br /><br />Lux tosses Damocles into the air. The weapon flips once, and slides into a spot over his shoulder where it hangs without support. "You believe you know why there are stars in the sky. You believe you know of the gods, and their purpose, and their place. But if you /understand/, allow me to ask you instead something terribly simple: from whence, Miss Hyral, came the gods?"<br /><br />Alberic casts a glance at the TV. He nods, once, simply. "Of course. I will be certain to provide any details you are missing from your notes. As always, it has been a pleasure." He bows at the camera, and then turns, and does the same to the room at large. He starts to turn away, pausing for a moment to raise his fingers. "Damocles. Release batch twenty-six. I would like to see them in action." There's a quiet sort of chime. Lux vanishes, disappearing into thin air.<br /><br />Where he stood, the air splits, a gap opening in space to an indistinguishable, cloudy place. Shapes pile out of it in the instant it remains. In his place, there are a dozen... creatures. They look like Heartless, but fragile and insubstantial, cloaked in grey with deep, ragged cowls around lanky bodies. They have a gap in the center of their chests, and the ends of their legs is simply mist, a wispy grey substance that evokes illusion and dream. They cast their yellow eyes around the room, hovering listlessly for a moment, and then dart across the chamber, into a fog that rises from the ground.<br /><br />There is a pounding sound. A hollow whump, whump, whump, like someone was banging a fist on glass. A scraping sound, muffled by something, follows after. Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiich. Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiiich.<br /><br />It's coming from the tanks containing the failed Legion nodes. They're moving. A dozen of them, with hands that end in terrible claws, with bodies shrouded in whirling mist. They pound on the glass, cracking the already-damaged containment units. The fractures begin to spread as the noise grows louder.<br /><br />Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiich. Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiiich.

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> During that whole silent mode, Seloria may have been *smiling* ever so sweetly at Lux. <br /> <br /> /Very/ sweetly.

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>"OoooH! Scary!" Feige says. "I can feel them in my bones! Why, I feel myself shaking, it huuuurts."<br /><br />She hugs herself. "But I saw your terror today, Will Sherman. I think seeing that reaction was /well/ worth a volcano lair. We'll call it even."<br /><br />"One thing's for sure though, I'm not entering that kind of contract with someone with that much fey in him." Feige wiggles a hand up and down. "If you want to do that to us, that'll be up to you, not part of any deal. Sorry sorry." She sighs. "Though being made to not exist again would be quite the /bother/."<br /><br />She sighs. "You're such a better teacher than myself. I just don't have the patience, Lux. Take care."<br /><br />The TV blips off there. Well, looks like this is a victory! You even got a potion.<br /><br />And, if you want it, a Legion BLOT on the ground there.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> "It is a promise." Will says. He will free Imi...he will free her and return her. He will make her a person again. He will /ABSOLUTELY DETROY/ Feige. <br /><br /> But first... <br /><br /> Will looks at the Legion BLOT. He leans down...and lifts her up. "We believe it is time to go. Lets run." He says, and starts moving. Will's just about tapped out, but he can't...he WON'T fail here...not now.

:'''[[Pumpkinhead]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Legion BLOT stirs long enough to say something.<br /><br />"<Goosehonk>" And then. "<Double Goosehonk>"

:'''[[Soan Sagittarius]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> DRAGOON MAN lands from the mighty blow he has dealt, slumping on more solid ground. His attention ignores Feige, who is more focused on the strange, frightening new facet of Will that he was unaware of. He is going immediatedly toward the fallen forms of Kyra and Kamon, reaching down to life them up(quite a feat with Kamon's case) or at least help Kyra back up, his attention leaving at Alma and Seloria as he helps them up. His hands glows, the light spreading over to both with a regenerative magic flowing through them. It wont help Kamon suddenly start walking, but it'll help, likely. <br /> <br /> The Heartless Creatures does not bode anything well. <br /> <br /> "It's time to go from here, people! Don't worry about that lad that fell -- I caught him on my way up here, he's well on his way out -- your magic gave him the strenght to escape, Hyral." DRAGOON MAN says at Kyra, expresionless face... being somehow positive and approving as help.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>The words of Feige barely register to Kyra, the throbbing concussion in her head making them sound disjointed. She catches something about Imi. Something about a self destruct being foiled. The harsh reply of Will and Loki come to her much clearer. She wasn't too familiar with Will but just by his tone, she can tell that the Dennous are clearly quite close to him. <br /><br />Another groan escapes her as Kyra makes out a dark figure standing over her and Kamon. "Soan?" she squeaks, her eyes drifting in and out of focus. Kamon seems to know a bit more about what's going on, spying Alberic at last when he's finally looming over her. <br /><br />A gasp escapes her and she struggles to move, her left arm reaching downwards, though not towards any of the many multicolored vials stored in her bandoliers. Alberic decides to help himself to one of her potions-though not without a bit of equivalent exchange, dropping a mixture into her hand. She doesn't drink it right away and instead opts to stash it, for now. <br /><br />The other hand opens up the satchel again and, slowly, she rises to her knees once he turns her back on her and stalks towards Alma. <br /><br />The plastic lid of the container is pulled back once more to reveal The Chili. She gives a cautious look over her shoulder to make sure Will is too occupied to interfere...then flings it at Alberic's back. <br /> <br />But he vanishes before it hits, leaving his strange Heartless-like creatures to suffer the might of Kyra's cooking instead. <br /><br />Dragoon Man helps both her and Kamon up...and for a moment, she gives Dragoon Man a worried look. If he was here-oh good, he has an excuse. Kyra looks relieved. "I'm glad Soan is alright. We need to get out of here, I agree."

:'''[[Seloria Delacreaux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span> Will grabs the Legion BLOT. <br /> <br /> Dragoon Man grabs Kyra and Kamon. <br /> <br /> Seloria makes her own way out, making sure Alma comes with them, last thing Selly needs is Alma getting kidnapped by Lux.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Alma Hyral remained doubled over on the ground, panting as she tries just to regain her breath. The disharmony caused by the blot just lingering in her mind, preventing her from regaining any measure of her focus. Something about it, despite not being anywhere near her just completely shattered her concentration. <br /> <br /> She listens to Alberic Lux try to taunt her, her affect flat once again, as she lifts her chin to just stare at him. She opens her mouth as if to answer his question... entirely oblivious to the events going on behind her. <br /> <br /> And then Kyra flings her corrosive chili at him... he vanishes right before it hits, and it lands amongst the heartless. <br /> <br /> DRAGOON MAN helped her up, and she just looks at everyone. <br /> <br /> She really doesn't know what to say, what to do. She'd been played entirely as a fool. They'd done something... good, here. So why did she still feel so numb? All she did was follow out the others in silence.

:'''[[Alberic Lux]] has posed:'''<br><span></span>Lux is gone. The chili flies towards the Heartless(?) he leaves, and splatters against one of them. It disappears beneath the blob with an undulating shriek. The rest...<br /><br />Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiich. Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiiich.<br /><br />The chili-blob bubbles. It rises from its spot on the ground, becoming a vaguely-humanoid shape, with a gaping maw, black obsidian teeth, and arms that drip the caustic chili. It lets out another cry, sloughing pieces of itself off as it drags itself towards Kyra, very slowly. It is vengeful. It is evil. It is out for seasoning.<br /><br />Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiich. Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiiich.<br /><br />Collecting the fallen is terribly easy when you're in a hurry. The formerly-dead, now-possessed Legion nodes start to break out of their holding tanks. Alarms go off, and are quickly quashed when they drive razor-sharp claws through the consoles holding them. Arcs of electricity Jacobs ladder between foot-long nails. They drop onto the ground and start to draw themselves up, sniffing the air as if seeking prey.<br /><br />Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiich. Whump, whump, whump -- scriiiiiich.<br /><br />More begin to break out. Three, now. Four. They start to get the scent.<br /><br />The heroes can escape before they catch them -- but the creatures will be here when -- if -- they return...<br /><br /> MASTERY CONDITION: <span class=" bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">FAILED</span> <br /> STAGE X1: <span class=" bold_fg_w bg_n ++ hw">SOAN SAGITTARIUS DIES IN MAGMA</span> <br /> <span class=" bold_fg_g bg_n ++ hg">COMPLETE!</span> 


 
This scene contained 99 poses.
The players who were present were: Will Sherman, Pumpkinhead, Seloria Delacreaux, Kyra Hyral, Kamon Lionward, Soan Sagittarius, Alberic Lux, Alma Hyral
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