[Nexus] Inside 40

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

It's an on-suite bathroom. There's a shower, a bath, a toilet and a sink, and the tiles have beetle images on them. There's stag beetles, ladybirds, rhinoceros beetles and so on. There's also a cupboard, and a mirror.

[Halae]

[Temple of Dalachrech]

Well, of course, that makes sense. Why wouldn't someone have a bathroom in the temple?

Instead of going in, Kail will go into Terrowin's office, looking for him.

((I think the scene is pretty well over for now. Unless you have something else planned, I'd say We're done here))

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

I have something planned, yes. Clericdom!

Terrowin is behind his desk, his neck back at an uncomfortable angle. He's asleep, but that doesn't look like a good place to sleep.

[Halae]

[Temple of Dalachrech]

Kail comes over to Terrowin and attempts to shake him awake. She feels bad for falling asleep like that and stealing his bed, "Wake up, Terrowin. You can have your bed back now."

[UncleWolf]

And as she holds her Beloved, even the call of the Objects is muted, a little. Only a little. But enough to give her hope that she could somehow rid herself of them, and be cleansed. Enough to give her hope that she could truly earn the love of the beautiful creature that Salome had plucked from a crowd and sacrificed to Slaanesh.

Masks Temple

Jack nods, actually seeming humble for once, and looks around the room. Seeing what material objects he has available for a show of warding or other such magic. Has to be something useful to the temple, he knows that much.

Masks Temple

Salome whispers little promises to Mistress, saying that some day they'll be able to love each other completely, more than she's ever going to imagine, but for now, Mistress just needs to relax and let the worries slip past...


Jack won't see much in the chapel, just the many pews, podium, cots and food for the homeless/needy, and the several guards.

[Gullara]

Spoiler

Show

[At the Door of the Den]

Luckily for Ilpholin, it was hard enough for the Moon to yank it's course off enough to start pinging back and forth like that in the first place.
It'd be much too difficult to correct its course to follow her into that maneuver.

It'll probably shatter in a few more bounces anyway...

So up to the roof she goes!

Meanwhile, we realize that somehow we never actually notice Mr. Squiggles doing anything. Again.
Which means that there are two raptors that hopped off the roof-top whilst draped in webbing.

That pair group, in particular, seem to have just fallen flat on their faces.
Maybe that's why they were in the small group, abandoned by the other three because they were silly enough to get caught in webs.
Oh well, they'll probably cut themselves out soon anyway.


The sandman, meanwhile, is getting a Sweeney Todd shave it seems and not looking thoroughly amused.
Sand spills out of the cut in his high-collared baggy shirt and a cross look appears on his destabilizing face.

His features are losing clarity, like a photo-lens going out of focus, as grains of sand swiftly relocate to correct the sudden gash in the body.
The fellow looks like he'd say something snarky about now, but oops, now there's a knife in his eye and his face just lost all focus.

Mostly just looks like a block of sand shaped roughly into a human-head shape.
With a knife in its eye.

So naturally he tries to punch Kirk in the face now.

There appears to be small piles of sand here and there.
With each loss, the sandman loses clarity, as he's left with less sand to cover more purposes...


Meanwhile, there's still three raptors eying the two.
One barks at its companions, then starts to lower itself down, looking to prepare a leap towards Kirk.

But then a bit of asphalt bounces off its head and it keels over instead, looking a fair bit stunned.

The bright glow around it flickers, as a large bolt of electricity snaps towards the offending object, not really caring how conductive it may or may not be.
Magic cares not for physics, only revenge.

The other two raptors screech in Legion/Jasper's general direction, before bolting off towards them.
Literally bolting.
From above, one could say that two large lightning bolts suddenly appeared and streaked towards the two at the truck.

From their perspective, two yellow velociraptor-monsters have decided to not be Way Over There and instead be Right In Their Faces.
Probably trying to tear those off.
(Of course, assuming their course isn't blocked by something.)

As a product of their bolt-travel, they also seem to have stopped glowing for the moment.

[At the Door of the Den]

Kirk moves backward away from the fist rather quickly, avoiding it and taking his knives with him. The drow follows up by trying to aim a speedy kick at the sandman's head. Thankfully the raptors are distracted for the moment.

[Red Zone - Alley]
Night

Jacob Smith takes his usual shortcut home tonight. He's in a sour mood, clearly. His boss just bumped him into the graveyard shift. He kicks a can as he makes his way down the alley.

One time when he goes to kick there's already a foot settles on the can. He looks up, how had this person snuck up on him like that? She must be homeless judging on the black rags she's wearing. But she's oddly clean, and shows none of the wear living on the street is sure to inflict. Heck, she's actually pretty hot

He gives her a smile when he finally works his way up to her face. A smile that very abruptly fades. Red eyes, bared fangs.

He turns to run. He doesn't even make it a step before a black bladed sword is abruptly jammed through his chest. He looks down at the blade, not feeling the pain yet. At it's tip a red rune flairs to life, as if drinking his blood to fuel some fell magic.

The pain comes when she tears into his throat. He screams, but his suffering is not prolonged. Darkness closes in.

________________


Rose screams in rage and frustration. It's a chilling sound. She violently kicks the corpse off her sword. Why can't she feed? She can touch them, she can kill them, but she can't drink their blood! She lays into the corpse with her blade. By the time she's done with it there isn't much left, and so much blood. She lashes out at the wall, it suffers no damage and her hand passes right through it as if it weren't even there. She screams one more time and disappears into the night.

[OrchestraHc]

[Follow the Arrows!]

When Justin gets outside the tavern he'll have some floating arrows to follow!

And they won't lead back to the same warehouse, either! In fact, it looks like the arrow is following a fancy 1920s era car of all things. No doubt the statue must be in there!

Probably has One-Eyed Pete in there as well!

That nefarious bad-guy!

But can Justin really follow a car on foot?

Well...

Guess we'll find out soon enough.

He may not know, but he's certainly going to try!

Yep.

There he goes... Trying!

A+ for effort, Sport.

*Wheeze* "Nuts to this!" he cries, struggling to pull in air. This meant he failed now didn't it? He hates failing. He especially hates failing to idiots. Idiots and Bugs flippin' Bunny villains. Wait... Bugs Bunny? No way. That's idiotic. But it was only a quarter as idiotic as what he had managed to pull off today. He decides to give it a shot anyway.

He waves a determined hand in the air. "TAXI!" he yells with as much bass in his voice as he can muster. He scans his eyes back and forth hoping for some sign he didn't just waste time with this nonsense. He gonna have to go back to running failing this. He really doesn't want to start running again.

[Chaotic Bob]

[At the Door of the Den]

Lightning raptors and Legion/Jasper do stuff over there!


Kirk kicks at the sandman's head, who responds snapping his other hand up to grab at the leg.
Grabbing that may be followed by yanking, in an effort to pull the fellow back off balance.
"Did you have to stab me in the eye?"

Meanwhile, the stunned raptor is shaking its head and pulling itself back up, its glow rebuilding.

[happyturtle]

Masks Temple

Masks Temple

Salome whispers little promises to Mistress, saying that some day they'll be able to love each other completely, more than she's ever going to imagine, but for now, Mistress just needs to relax and let the worries slip past...

"What if I could become yours, as you are mine? Would you like it if I became your daemonette?" Xifra asks Salome, as she gently strokes her lover's tail.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Somewhere Else Again]

"Mistress, Sasch has delivered the fourth core."
"Install it. I'll correct the errors with the third on my own.
All personnel are to vacate the premises immediately. Your jobs are completed for the time being. Return in two days."
"Um, of course Mistress."

The worker bows and quickly leaves the room, to spread the word to the various other workers.

Feia stares at the screen showing Kirk and Ylon dueling in the middle of the street for a few more moments, before flexing her fingers.
A slight smile crosses her face, bearing her usual amusement, with just a taste of anticipation.
Some progress in her experiments at last!

A snap of her fingers and the scrying window dims, as she turns and steps out of the room.

You will need to vacate as well, Sasch.
Of course, my lady. I will await you at the Hold.
I anticipate a roughly thirty minute delay. Plan accordingly.
She sent word then?
Yes.


The drywall room is largely barren, save for a granite pedastal in the middle of the floor, roughly the side of a bed-side table in height and a foot-wide in dimensions.
A bowl sits on top of it, filled with a series of uniformly spread indentations through.

A dark violet crystal hovers above it, small sparks of energy snapping out every few moments.

Feia frowns a for a moment, as she approaches it, then begins to inscribe little glyphs in the air around the crystal.
Each glyph completed results in the object drifting lower and lower, until a cloud of sigils surrounds it and it has situated entirely within the bowl.

An electric hum begins, from the pedestal, spreads towards the floor, and soon fills the room.
Two other rooms across the hall, with similar pedestals and crystals soon have a similar hum, filling the building with the sound.

Satisfied, she moves off to correct "Core Three", which undoubtedly just has a few incorrectly positioned glyphs.
After which, she can leave...and wait.


Outside the building, all is silence, but within, everything is abuzz.

[Halae]

[Nothingness]

There's nothing there. now world around you.

The mind can't cope with that. Kazimiera can't see anything, can't feel anything, or hear, or taste or smell. Not even her armor. Not even her own body. The panic sets in, and she screams with no sound.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Nothingness]

It hurt, in some ways, this...Nothing.
Soothing, in others. No demands, no needs, no desires.

He wasn't sure it was so bad here, in this place...

But even as he started to accept the madness of absence, it recoiled, replaced again, so soon, or so late.
Seconds, or days?

The roar of wind, the pull of the world, the soothing feel of darkness.

[Somewhere Else - Abandoned Apartment]

Arcs of energy flaired from the Core crystals in the four rooms, surging out the open doorways to meet at a central point in the hallway outside.

As they meet, the arcs coil around each other like a group of frantic snakes.
The coiling continues for several moments, before it begins to expand outwards, slowly at first, but picking up pace quickly.

Much like a balloon, it expands to fit its container, reaching out towards the walls of the hallway, before rapidly spreading off towards the far ends in a bright flash of light.

And then it fades.
In its wake, two armored soldiers and what appears to be enormous rats spliced with blue lizards.

[Halae]

[Somewhere Else - Abandoned Apartment]

As the pair of them come back into time, Kaz's first and only response is to hold onto something, to make sure it's real. Over the comm link Del will be able to hear her shuddering breaths and sobs as she attempts to hold him around the waist as tightly as she can.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Somewhere Else - Abandoned Apartment]

Del's own comlink registers only deep breaths, as he responds to the sudden reintroduction of Existence all around them.

He doesn't even notice as Kaz latches onto him, for a moment, stuck in a slight daze from the someplace they just left.
Wonderful and horrible.

The enforcer shakes his head a moment later, then glances down at his partner.
A hand goes to rest on her shoulder, for what it can be felt through their armor, as he glances around at their surroundings.
"Are you alright, Mi?"

[Halae]

[Somewhere Else - Abandoned Apartment]

"No, no I'm not!" she says, "What the hell was that? What did he do to us?!" She hasn't looked up at theirs surroundings yet, just holding onto Del for all she's worth. Almost as if she'd lose herself back in that nothingness if she let go.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Somewhere Else - Abandoned Apartment]

This was not the best time to be breaking down, losing one's nerve.
Targeted by unknown magic, left in an unknown place.

They should have their wits about them! Ready for any danger!

And yet, Del can't entirely blame Kaz for her reaction.
He felt it, too, at first. The panic, before he understood what it was, the calm.

Low and calm, keeping his voice level, something stable for her to focus on.
"I don't know what it was. But we're still alive and we're somewhere else.
I think it might have been a transportation spell, of some kind."

Some of those felt uncomfortable, he knew, from time with his mother.
None felt quite that bad, but they say every mage is different, right?

[Halae]

[Somewhere Else - Abandoned Apartment]

Kaz nods slowly, taking a deep breath, "Yeah, you're right... we're alive... we're fine..." Finally she starts to let go of him, her arms having locked in that position and she looks around them. Oddly enough, she managed to maintain a hold of her sword, even throughout that hug. another thing to hold onto, to prove that everything was real. She finally looks around the room, trying to see everything that's around. It'd help to know where they are.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Somewhere Else - Abandoned Apartment]

"Yes, we're fine.
Let's keep it that way, alright?
Keep your head for me until we get out of here. And then I think we need some beers."
Or a lot.

With Kaz finally moving away, Del slides his lasrifle back around and takes a ready grasp, just in case it's needed.

For now, they're in the middle of a completely barren hall. A couple loose boards sit on the ground, here and there, but beyond that there is nothing.
A staircase is at one end, double doors at the other, and then five single doors on each of the hall's sides.

Two of these doors on each side are open, a fading hum coming from each.
"We need to figure out where we are."

[Halae]

[Somewhere Else - Abandoned Apartment]

"I'm checking my map," she says. He'll still be able to detect the hints of heavy breathing and panic, but it's significantly less now, and well on its way to being eliminated entirely. "... Well that's helpful. We're apparently in an empty lot, standing about twenty feet off the ground."

What, you didn't think that snazzy armor didn't come with a HUD?

"We have to move, get down to ground level," she says, and begins moving towards the staircase, making sure to aim with her laspistol in her left hand while her sword is in her right, and will shoot pretty much anything that moves. She's fairly high strung.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech

Terrowin is shaken awake with a start. "Mwah! Oh, uh, good. My neck is really sore." Terrowin gets up and stretches. That really was uncomfortable.

[Rebonack]

He may not know, but he's certainly going to try!

Yep.

There he goes... Trying!

A+ for effort, Sport.

*Wheeze* "Nuts to this!" he cries, struggling to pull in air. This meant he failed now didn't it? He hates failing. He especially hates failing to idiots. Idiots and Bugs flippin' Bunny villains. Wait... Bugs Bunny? No way. That's idiotic. But it was only a quarter as idiotic as what he had managed to pull off today. He decides to give it a shot anyway.

He waves a determined hand in the air. "TAXI!" he yells with as much bass in his voice as he can muster. He scans his eyes back and forth hoping for some sign he didn't just waste time with this nonsense. He gonna have to go back to running failing this. He really doesn't want to start running again.

A large cartoonish taxi suddenly screeches to a halt nearby! Cartoonish in the sense that it's obviously animated and has a pair of eyes for headlights.

"Where are we goin' Mac?" inquires the anthropomorphized car as one of its doors swings open.

...

Huh.

Well.

Looks like we're about to have a car chase.

[Mindfreak]

Gray Zone Streets
Vroom!
Elena's driving a humvee with Tirin on the turrent!
Red light!
"So, where should we wait for her?"
They did see an alley in the vision.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Gray Zone Streets]

And burning buildings.

"An alley, near a fire."

[UncleWolf]

Masks Temple



"What if I could become yours, as you are mine? Would you like it if I became your daemonette?" Xifra asks Salome, as she gently strokes her lover's tail.

Masks Temple

It's obvious that the question stuns Salome beyond comprehension, turning her foggy mind into a blank. To her, having Mistress submit herself to Salome was nearly unthinkable. To do so fully and willingly...

She holds her breath, staring into Mistress' eyes, as if disbelieving it and thinking it a joke, but hoping otherwise.

Streets Somewhere

Jezebel is silent for a while, thinking. "Name a daughter Maria." She tells Harnel. "Promise me that, and all misgivings are gone between us."

[Mindfreak]

Gray Zone Streets
There are no burning buildings to her knowledge. Plus, there was panicking people as well!
"I can't see any burning buildings and wasn't there panicking people as well?"

Gray Zone Sidewalks
Here comes the Umbrella Employee Zombies!
"Graaaah!"
They start to attempt to bite NPCs! To cause mass panic!

[Lady Serpentine]

[Gray Zone Streets]

"Yes. And these zombies ought to cause a panick, so are any of these rounds incerdiary?"

[happyturtle]

Masks Temple

Xifra holds her gaze, suddenly unsure of herself, wondering if she said something wrong. She could try and reach into Salome's mind to see, but she is too afraid of hurting her. "Salome? Beloved? I'll never do anything to make you unhappy."

[Halae]

Temple of Dalachrech

Terrowin is shaken awake with a start. "Mwah! Oh, uh, good. My neck is really sore." Terrowin gets up and stretches. That really was uncomfortable.

[Temple of Dalachrech]

Kail smiles a bit, "Thank you for your help Terrowin. It was my choice, even if it hurt, but I'll be able to be a man again."

[Street Somewhere]

Harnel nods, "I will," Harnel says simply. the questioning look on his face asks, 'anything else?' He knows the significance of that request, but he can't help but feel that's somewhat little for what issue was made.

[Mindfreak]

Gray Zone Streets
"Look at the number on the side of the ammo box. If it's S-75 then it has incendiary rounds currently in. If not, look around your area. There should be at least 10 more ammo boxes."
The one in currently says S-50.
There's only one ammo box with S-75 next to him in a neat little pile with others.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Gray Zone Streets]

He starts to unload the S-50s, and load in the S-75s.