[Nexus] MagCave VII: Rest for the Wicked

[Arkhosia]

Front Door

"First I'm hearing of it. Doesn't look like they did a very good job of trapping you either, all things considered. Seeing as you're-"

Magtok sticks his hand out towards the illusion's forehead, wondering what it would feel like to reach into that holy energy and poke the space where Lyrina's brain should be. Poke poke.

"...quasi-here, and all. Sorta. So is this an invitation to a quest, then? Have I been chosen by the totally-not-evil goddess of chaos and twilight to rescue her from her prison? Because if it is, you're barking up the wrong tree. There are people way more qualified, and the whole 'risk your life rescuing a princess and get a kiss on the cheek' thing really doesn't sound worth the trouble. No offense meant, I'm sure you're a nice enough lady, but I've got bills to pay. Plus, being the resident friendly neighborhood supervillain, it'd be pretty weird if I was un-kidnapping damsels left and right. I mean, I've already done it once now and even that was probably too much."

Magtok really doesn't want to wear women's clothing again if he can avoid it.

Just a lot of air and divine energy.
Yeah, they aren't very good, especially for Lolthian clerics.
No. As I said, I just want to learn about the Nexus.
And chaos isn't evil! Chaos causes change, as it's often different than what's normal: order. To create change, you must disrupt order.
By the way, if you ever want, I'd be glad to aid you in your job as friendly neighborhood supervillain.

[Lord Magtok]

Front Door

"Enlisting the aid of goddesses is usually considered cheating," Magtok points out, as if that has ever stopped him from working with goddesses before. I think I can name at least three separate deific figures he was perfectly alright with conspiring alongside.

"But I suppose I could let you know if a project comes along. So recently deified, huh? How'd that work out? Is there like a big coronation ceremony? Do you choose your domains, the twilight, chaos, and change thing, or do they choose you? Do you need a certain number of followers to count, or is it all about raw magical power and the right incantations?"

[Arkhosia]

Front Door

"Enlisting the aid of goddesses is usually considered cheating," Magtok points out, as if that has ever stopped him from working with goddesses before. I think I can name at least three separate deific figures he was perfectly alright with conspiring alongside.

"But I suppose I could let you know if a project comes along. So recently deified, huh? How'd that work out? Is there like a big coronation ceremony? Do you choose your domains, the twilight, chaos, and change thing, or do they choose you? Do you need a certain number of followers to count, or is it all about raw magical power and the right incantations?"

They chose me when their previous owner was slain.
Lolth slew the god who owned my previous powers. He cast a spell to stop her from getting his powers, and apparently I was the lucky winner.

[Lord Magtok]

Front Door

"So rather than going through all that same trouble all over again, trying to eat a deity, Lolth and her people decided to just shove you in a box and forget about you. That, or the box is supposed to be eaten by Lolth so she can absorb those powers she missed out on? Are you...you're not on some sort of magicky god dinnerplate, are you?"

Magtok can't help but imagine some twenty-foot drow woman that looks suspiciously like Ilpholin, who just shoves an entire dinnerplate with Lyrina on it into her hungry maw.

"Whatever, nevermind that. You said you were going to be alright, after all. Back to business, you said you were doing some touring, surveying your new domain and such? I have a list of places you should think about investigating. FHJ-46, the list of relevant locations, please!"

A Magbot runs in, and hands Magtok a sheet of paper with the names and addresses of various acronym organizations, taverns, and so on, which he promptly sticks to the outside of the door. He'd hand it to Lyrina, but she's not exactly very good at holding things with her hands right now, is she?

[Arkhosia]

Front Door

More of a case of "I don't know what the **** we should do so we're just gonna stick her in a box and give her to high priestesses".
Thank you.
She memorizes the list.

[Lord Magtok]

Front Door

Magtok takes the list down, and passes it back to the Magbot, who vanishes away inside once more.

"Right. So it wasn't even the goddess or the high priestesses who put you in the box. Are you sure you're a deity? Because that sounds...kinda weaksauce, honestly. Doesn't divinity come with magical laser beams of death to smite any lowly mortal who tries to do a thing like that?"

[Arkhosia]

Front Door

Magtok takes the list down, and passes it back to the Magbot, who vanishes away inside once more.

"Right. So it wasn't even the goddess or the high priestesses who put you in the box. Are you sure you're a deity? Because that sounds...kinda weaksauce, honestly. Doesn't divinity come with magical laser beams of death to smite any lowly mortal who tries to do a thing like that?"

Well, it just so happens that they caught me just after I ascended, like literally a couple seconds afterwards, so I didn't have time to use my powers. However, as we speak, my physical form is escaping.

[Lord Magtok]

Front Door

"I'll believe it when I see it," Magtok remarks, peering at the spot on his wrist where a watch would be, if he had one. I imagine the gesture doesn't quite have the same impact on people who don't come from civilizations with wristwatches.

[Terumitsu]

The Lime Room

Magtok seems distracted momentarily, humming along with a song some other clone is listening to, before quickly jumping back to reality before anyone starts snapping fingers in front of his face.

"Living in a powder keg and giving off...hrm? Oh right, blinding and burning. There's a fine line between appealing to my absurd ego and outright sycophancy, though."

"I suppose that line might be blurred across cultural backgrounds." Riss said with a mild shrug. "It might amuse to to say that often it would be the effigy and not the mannerism that would have prompted such a response from where I used to be. However, if that is a behavior you want discouraged, then I can remove that quality in the production model." she said, remaining almost suspiciously clinical about the situation to prevent her personal thoughts on the matter from being known... Or perhaps at least not allowing any unseen balance to be altered for whatever reason.

"At any rate, both of the things that remain are also weapons. One is specifically designed to strip away material protections and defenses while the other belies its design to be just another crass method of incineration albeit a very effective one." 'Ponytail' said as she gestured in turn to something that appeared to be a long, thin tuning fork the size of a longsword with a handle that was hooked up to a belt-mounted power source and then to something that Magtok might judge to be a railgun built using some sort of 'Tesla-esque' sci-fi technology. "Does either one seem particularly captivating, Sir?"

The Lime Room - Techno-Paladin

Aequitus takes a moment to look around for a chair before taking a seat if there is one. "How detailed would you like me to get? This can take anywhere from a few moments to explain to several hours, so it's up to you."

"I would assume that this will take some time to beguin with so perhaps I will be able to give you at least a few preliminary results at the end of a long story." Riss said, already entering some initial calibrations. "Be as detailed as you like although I'll warn you that I might ask more questions if some things aren't clear." she said, managing to make it seem like a playful sort of 'threat' seeing how she had already been questioning him quite a lot. It was hard not to be interested, though. It was new information presented in a rather compelling way, at least.

[happyturtle]

MagCave

A person knocks on the door. The person is completely unidentifiable due to the glasses he(?) is wearing. They look like fairly fashionable and expensive frames, but they carry the Clark Kent disguise power.

[Arkhosia]

Magcave
Very late at night
Tempest sneaks around the Magcave, trying to find an alternate route than the door in.

[Lord Magtok]

MagCave - Clark Kent

Oh fudge, anonymity. Someone is trying to hide something from Magtok. Is it DC? Reinholdt? Space Hitler? Who are they, and what are they doing here?! What does this maybe-possibly-stranger with an ambiguous gender want?!

"...Hello?"

Magtok opens the door and raises an eyebrow. He tries his best not to look too concerned, but this mild-mannered non-entity is definitely unnerving him. Maybe it's Riss or another MagClone, showing off a new toy?

MagCave Alternate Entrance => Billiards Room

Oh look, it's the garage. Normally this place would be closed off, but there was a snow storm recently, and a MagMobile was caught in the middle of it on the way back, so Magbots are hard at work, covering up the vehicle's tracks. They're so preoccupied with hiding evidence of a secret entrance from the world that they don't even notice someone sneaking around, trying to exploit the very same secret entrance. Plenty of cars, motorcycles, a jet, and even a few hovercraft around here, but last I checked Tempest hadn't stolen Maggy's keys, so she might as well keep moving.

Next is a billiards room. Or at least, that's what it looks like at first. As Tempest wanders around, she'll notice an entire bar stocked with booze on the other side of the large chamber, some barstools and chairs, and a few weathered arcade machines. There's Galmaga, Pac-Mag, an Agent Chrome-themed pinball machine, a fighter by the name of Riverside Rumble II: Turbo Edition, and a few dartboards with the faces of people Magtok doesn't like.

"Hi."

Oh yeah, and a robot bartender. Man, I probably should've mentioned him first, huh? Quick, Tempest! Do something! Run away or punch the robot in the mouth or whatever it is you do when this sort of thing happens!

[Arkhosia]

Billiards Room

Tempest sneaks into the Billiards room when suddenly, robot bartender!
She has other, more flashier ways if dealing with it...
Fireball to to face!

[happyturtle]

MagCave - Clark Kent

"Um, yeah. Magtok. Can we talk? It's about AMEN." The figure looks about shiftily, as if afraid of being seen talking to Magtok.

[Lord Magtok]

Billiards Room

"Gah!"

The Magbot bartender ducks! This probably isn't the best thing that could've happened, because instead of crashing into the robot, the fireball hits a whole rack of alcoholic beverages instead, and sets that on fire instead.

"Oh...oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. What did you do?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" The robot screeches, jumping over the counter and fleeing towards the nearest fire extinguisher. It won't be nearly enough to deal with this huge wall of flame, but it might just slow down the spread of fire long enough for other Magbots to show up with more fire extinguishing equipment.

As much as the bartender would like to try to detain Tempest, it's a little busy now, as you can see. Still, that doesn't stop a trio of Magbots with bobby hats from running in through the door Tempest came in from.

"HEY YOU!"

They don't look friendly. Run, Tempest, run!

MagCave - Clark Kent

The cyborg narrows his eyes.

"I'm not selling AMENite secrets to anyone. Especially not to anyone who won't even show their face."

Magtok, that was Moff's text color, not DC's. Wrong response.

"Oh, nevermind. Right, so AMEN? Last I checked, that wasn't my business anymore."

You say that, but last I checked, you were still dating their leader, attempting to represent one of them as an evil attorney, and collecting information on what they've been up to from Harley. If you're trying to distance yourself from the group, you're doing a really bad job of it, Magtok.

[Arkhosia]

Billiards Room

"Gah!"

The Magbot bartender ducks! This probably isn't the best thing that could've happened, because instead of crashing into the robot, the fireball hits a whole rack of alcoholic beverages instead, and sets that on fire instead.

"Oh...oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. What did you do?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" The robot screeches, jumping over the counter and fleeing towards the nearest fire extinguisher. It won't be nearly enough to deal with this huge wall of flame, but it might just slow down the spread of fire long enough for other Magbots to show up with more fire extinguishing equipment.

As much as the bartender would like to try to detain Tempest, it's a little busy now, as you can see. Still, that doesn't stop a trio of Magbots with bobby hats from running in through the door Tempest came in from.

"HEY YOU!"

They don't look friendly. Run, Tempest, run!

MagCave - Clark Kent

The cyborg narrows his eyes.

"I'm not selling AMENite secrets to anyone. Especially not to anyone who won't even show their face."

Magtok, that was Moff's text color, not DC's. Wrong response.

"Oh, nevermind. Right, so AMEN? Last I checked, that wasn't my business anymore."

You say that, but last I checked, you were still dating their leader, attempting to represent one of them as an evil attorney, and collecting information on what they've been up to from Harley. If you're trying to distance yourself from the group, you're doing a really bad job of it, Magtok.

Tempest flings fire at the trio before attempting to propel herself either through a different entrance, a up a stairway, or to do a flying kick through a door unless it's steel, in which she'll try to blowtorch a hole in it to go through.
Basically, she's going to try and get out of the bar

[happyturtle]

Clark Kent

"Just let me in. I can't talk about this out in the open!" CK says, clearly anxious.

[Lord Magtok]

Clark Kent

"Fine." Magtok reaches out for ObviouslyMoffBecauseWhoElseCouldItBe's arm, and tries to pull the loathsome wretch inside. Approximately thirteen armed Magbots that weren't visible from the doorstep suddenly have to do their best to look casual and pretend they weren't under orders to open fire at a moment's notice.

Billiards Room => The Hall of Things

Hey, have you ever wondered where things go after Magtok puts them into his pocket? Where he pulls these things out of, when it's blatantly obvious he couldn't possibly fit so much in his robe? No, of course you haven't. He's not your character, only I would ever waste time thinking about anything so irrelevant and utterly inconsequential.

Well the answer, whether or not you cared to know, is here. This is where all the stuff goes. This massive hallway, about nine feet wide, thirty feet high, and sixty feet long, is nothing but cubbies. Little square boxes everywhere, as far as the eye can see, just loaded with stuff. There's no rhyme or reason to it all, either. Nothing's alphabetized, items that have the same color scheme or purpose could be yards away from each other, and the items aren't even labeled. In fact, the only pattern I can seem to find is that all the really shiny stuff is way up at the top where people who can't fly would have to take a very dangerous climb up to reach, but that could just be a weird coincidence, and not an actual safety measure.

[Arkhosia]

Hall of Things

Tempest propels herself to the top of the cubbies, and grabs as much shiny stuff as she can and stuffs them into her pockets and Hammerspace as she runs

[happyturtle]

Clark Kent

Once inside, Clark Kent removes his glasses to reveal - a Moff. Not Mechanical Jaw Moff, who was the one who tried to assassinate Magtok, but another, generic, possibly rogue, Moff.

"Listen, Magtok. You have to come back," he says. Nay, pleads.

[Lord Magtok]

Hall of Things

"You're making a mistake, you know."

A chrome hand reaches out of one of the cubbies, and attempts to seize Tempest by the ankle, sometime after she's already grabbed three diamonds, a magical watch on a chain, and large crystal egg.

Clark Kent

"I can't think of one good reason why I should do that," the cyborg shakes his head, clearly of another opinion on the matter.

Lime Room Thing I Missed

"Mostly it's having both things at once that makes it seem a little much. A lot of the old statues of me got broken in the fight with Excelsior, though."

Also, Magtok just loves looking at himself.

"They both sound interesting, but if I'm being entirely honest, the defenses one would probably be infinitely more useful. How does that one function?"

[Arkhosia]

Hall of Things

"You're making a mistake, you know."

A chrome hand reaches out of one of the cubbies, and attempts to seize Tempest by the ankle, sometime after she's already grabbed three diamonds, a magical watch on a chain, and large crystal egg.

Clark Kent

"I can't think of one good reason why I should do that," the cyborg shakes his head, clearly of another opinion on the matter.

Lime Room Thing I Missed

"Mostly it's having both things at once that makes it seem a little much. A lot of the old statues of me got broken in the fight with Excelsior, though."

Also, Magtok just loves looking at himself.

Tempest is grabbed!
Oh, really now? All I know is that I'm making a profit!
She replies as she attempts to melt the hand via a fire blast

[happyturtle]

Moff Kent

Moff hands Magtok his phone, which is playing a fuzzy recording of this scene.

He can't see MJ Moff because the camera is actually built into the mechanical jaw. That also throws the angles off way more than an eye camera would. All that talking. Really, a jaw camera is a terrible idea. Magtok might get a glimpse that tells him one of the new members is very tall and another very perky, but no really actionable intelligence.

The voice recording though - that's the really damning information.

[Lord Magtok]

Tempest Troubles

"I'm trying to be nice. Medical bills are expensive."

The hand attempts to tighten its grip and abruptly snap poor Tempest's ankle as the sound of fire fills the air. She's free to try to set the hand and her own foot on fire, but I don't know if that's such a hot () idea.


Moff Kent

The cyborg sighs, and hands the phone right back to Moff about three-fourths of the way through. Ugh, newbies. Just when he thought he'd seen the lowest, most disgraceful bunch of rookies to walk the Nexus, Moff goes and shows him even more foolish fools.

"This is...this really very emotional stuff, but I don't know how this is supposed to make me want to go back, Moff. It's not even anything new, either. Incompetence is nothing we haven't seen, not with Becky and Clarissa and the other wretches. Harley was right, I have absolutely no confidence in any of the other AMENites. Never did. Despite all the work I'd done, the feeling was reciprocated, too."

The doorway swings back open, and Magtok points it out, on the off-chance Moff somehow failed to notice the noisy whooshing sound implying that he should leave.

"I'm better without AMEN, Moff. I'm sure I've done a lot for the group, and there's plenty I could still give, but it never did **** for me in return, and it's abundantly clear that it never will. I've known this for a long time, but never acted on it, because...well, **** if I know why, but I didn't. That doesn't matter, though, because I've fixed all of that now. I'm free, Moff. AMEN will never take another droplet of my blood again."

It's obvious Magtok is plenty conflicted about this, and a part of him desperately wants some legitimate excuse to go running back to the Association, but that cold, petty, decidedly unsentimental part of him has vetoed any and all thoughts of returning to villainous organization. They wanted him out, so he left. Now they can rot in hell for their arrogance and ingratitude.

[Arkhosia]

Tempest Tries Taking Things!

Tempest's ankle is snapped, causing her to cry out in pain instead, then fall and collide on the top of the cubbies.
Due to this, she is currently dazed from the pain and cannot really react.

[happyturtle]

Moff Kent

"But look! That new person, Arkhosia! And Harley! They're both enthusiastic. It's so close - you'd be the one to tilt the balance!"

He blatantly ignores the swooshing door.

"Okay, yes, MJ Moff tried to kill you. And some of the other Moffs are still of his way of thinking. But some of us are willing to swallow our pride and bring you back. Heck, some of us never wanted you gone. It may never have come to an open breach if there hadn't been a new dancer at Yay Men that day!"

"Listen, Magtok. I can get you in, right behind MJ, dagger ready to stab him in the kidney, if you need revenge. What do you say?"

[Lord Magtok]

Tempest Tossed

"You only got this far because I was bored, you know. Because I wanted to know exactly what you were up to and didn't want to ruin the fun by stopping you prematurely. You knew that, didn't you? I mean, you didn't really think you got this far on your own merits, did you? The jig is up, thief. Drop the loot, or I drop you."

Magtok looses his grip on the ankle slightly to make his point. It's a long way down.

Moff Kent

Magtok screws his eyes shut and breathes, trying to craft the right response. The temperature inside drops as he does so, frigid mountain air flowing in from outside to rush the proceedings and make the both of them vaguely uncomfortable.

"I don't know. Can I have more time to think about it? Everything's complicated right now, DC has a superweapon that could kill me, the MagCave's a mess, I'm trying to resurrect a death goddess by murdering other deities and using their power..."

There's that whole business with Harley, too. It's one thing to date her as an outsider, a former member of AMEN, but reclaim your membership and suddenly things are a lot more complicated, and maybe just a little too reminiscent of Ilpholin's term as leader.

[Arkhosia]

Tempest Tossed

"You only got this far because I was bored, you know. Because I wanted to know exactly what you were up to and didn't want to ruin the fun by stopping you prematurely. You knew that, didn't you? I mean, you didn't really think you got this far on your own merits, did you? The jig is up, thief. Drop the loot, or I drop you."

Magtok looses his grip on the ankle slightly to make his point. It's a long way down.

Moff Kent

Magtok screws his eyes shut and breathes, trying to craft the right response. The temperature inside drops as he does so, frigid mountain air flowing in from outside to rush the proceedings and make the both of them vaguely uncomfortable.

"I don't know. Can I have more time to think about it? Everything's complicated right now, DC has a superweapon that could kill me, the MagCave's a mess, I'm trying to resurrect a death goddess by murdering other deities and using their power..."

There's that whole business with Harley, too. It's one thing to date her as an outsider, a former member of AMEN, but reclaim your membership and suddenly things are a lot more complicated, and maybe just a little too reminiscent of Ilpholin's term as leader.

Tempest sighs.
Fine.
She removes the loot from her pockets and puts it on the cubbies.

[happyturtle]

Moff Kent

Moff sighs. "I guess. When you're ready to let me know, you can call...." He suddenly brightens. "Oooh, I know. You can leave a coded message on the Wall, and I'll sneak over again. Something like 'The cock crows at midnight!' That's way better than a phone call."

[Lord Magtok]

Moff Kent

Magtok has to try very hard not to say something about phalluses and Moff's unswerving focus on them. There's a fair chance he was actually talking about roosters and Maggy just assumed the worst, so let's not offer Moff that opening by criticizing the AMENite's choice of words.

"Fine, but it needs a reply to go with it, so I know you're the right Moff, and not one of underbite's followers. 'The Big Cheese gets his at low tide', maybe?"

Tempest's Troubles with Treasure

"I'm giving you exactly one chance to get out of this alive, thief. Listen closely, you don't want to ruin this."

That hand on her ankle holds firm once more, careful not to risk letting go and dropping the stranger on her head.

"I'm going to pull you through this cubby, and through a portal, okay? You're going to pop out of a hat miles away like the bunny in that lame magic trick we've all seen before. After that, you're going to bow like a good little magician's assistant, hobble away, and never come by here again. I'll even let you keep that horrible alien baby monster egg you were so intent on taking off my hands."

I dunno, sounds like a pretty lame deal to me. Also, if those cubbies lead somewhere, why not just flee through one of those?