Inside 57

[ThePhantom]

Unveiling

The controls are splattered with blood, but easy to read. There's an activate/deactivate, emergency shutdown, on/off, power flow control, emitter array control, oscilloscope, and a keypad for numeral input. The problem is, all the buttons themselves have been removed!

A lack of buttons isn't much of a problem, not for Mister Steward. After all, what is a button but something you can press to change the flow of something. And in this case, it was almost certainly electrical in nature. Therefore, Mister Steward puts his finger where the emergency shutdown button should be, and tries a little electric magic to get it trigger.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cliffs]

One of the bat creatures is swatted by the rising ball but quickly recovers and shrieks, summoning the rest of the swarm who quickly surrounds the bubble as KR is sneaking away through the cliffs.

They start to crash straight into it one by one, trying to break the bubble with their bodies alone.

The horned land demons aren't paying any attention to this however, they're fully focused on their ritual. And their efforts pay of, KR can see a bright flash of light as a winged creature takes to the skies. At first glance one could take it for ana angel of some sort made of silver but it's far too slender for that. It consists of a body who is just as thin as it's unnaturally long arms and legs giving it an almost stick-figure like appearance.

Two wings sprout from where the arms meet the shoulders and wicked claws from the end of it's arms and legs. It's head is vaguely human in appearance however but without any defining features at all, just a blank oval-shaped head where some kind of black liquid seem to shift just underneath the surface.

KR might completely miss the creature however as it has this strange aura about it which makes people prone to completely ignore it or find it of no concern even if it's standing right behind them.

What she might note however is that something is attempting to cast a psionic scan over the area, trying to find anything alive or moving here.

[Cliffs]

KR doesn't notice the new demon, being entirely focused on slipping away from the current pack. Neither does she notice the psionic scan.

The ice cracks a little bit, but doesn't shatter yet. Surely if they keep trying, they'll be able to break through!

[Lost_Deep]

[Trick's Investigations]

"We're both a bit out of our element, yes. Guns in particular are an interesting addition."

Freia may notice that the blue-white chest just... moved slightly, towards the desk.

"You'll likely find a lot of your combat style changing due to the addition-hm?" She catches the movement in the corner of her eye, and looks at the chest.

[Halae]

Oh, yes! Some men in black robes attacked her and she dove out the window, shining with dark light! It was amazing!
Trick may recognize the shining light as ascension to godhood

[Market Street Apartment]

There's not enough evidence to draw conclusions. Particularly one so... rare.

"So, she did it herself. Thank you, very much," A few whispered words end the spell, and will allow the old woman to fade back into the ethereal at her leisure. If she has any more to say, she'll be able to before leaving.

Trick turns to the woman who hired her, "Your sister jumped out the window of her own accord. No Blood outside means she survived the landing, and there's no signs of a fight outdoors - She's either detained, or hiding. Do you know any of your sister's hiding spots? In case she angered the wrong people?"

[A Street in Yellow Zone]

There's a ruckus here. And a pretty large one at that, what with the stomping and roaring. Someone should do something about that.

A great scaled beast with six heads on long necks is tromping along through the street, attacking civilians and causing general mayhem. It's something like thirty feet long from nose to tail tip, about fifteen feet high at the shoulders, and after tearing apart a fruit stand, it's on the lookout for the type of food it actually likes - meat.

((Closed Scene))

[Arkhosia]

Apartment

Yes... she had a small cabin in Outside, Near the Temple of Inari
The woman replies, relieved

[Morty]

[A Street in Yellow Zone]

Wenomir sighs as he unsheathes his greatsword. Good thing he happened to bring it instead of his longsword. It'll be more useful against this thing. He'll be late for his meeting with Magtok, but he can't just leave this monster to wreck the city, can he? And maybe he'll manage to kill it before Remnant gets here. Someone might even respect him afterwards, which doesn't happen often.

"I've got it under control, people!" he shouts as he points the long blade at the hydra. He appears to be measuring distance and calculating. He then leans the sword against his shoulder, bends his knees and... leaps.

The warrior first soars through the air upwards and forwards in the hydra's direction, before plunging downwards, sword pointed at its torso, behind the heads. Should he hit the monster this way, the impact will be considerable.

[Halae]

[Market Street Apartment]

"Let's go there, then. If she's to be found anywhere, that's the likely place. if not, there's a few other avenues we can follow," Trick says, indicating for the other woman to lead.

[Trick's Investigations]

"Yeah- Hmm?" Trick follows Freia's gaze, down to the trunk, "Oh, that's Luggage. Luggage, say hi to Freia."

The chest's lid opens up a long metallic tongue lolling out of the huge mimic's insides in between man extremely large, sharp teeth. It lets on a sort of warbling sound before rumbling on it's corners, almost like walking, over to Freia. Luggage is extremely cold, being a frost mimic, so when he starts snuggling up to Freia, she may be a bit weirded out. It doesn't help that he's an absolutely massive example of his species.

"He's looking for pets," Trick says with a smile, "Be warned though, touching him is like touching ice. You may want to put on some gloves first."

[Yellow Zone Street]

The massive creature only had one head paying attention to Wenomir when the attack commenced, and it'll attempt to move into his way, but with te rest of its body moving at cross purposes, that one head and neck simply isn't enough, and the greatsword hits home.

With a cry that can - and will - shatter several windows in the immediate area, every one of the Hydra's heads turns to the swordsman, where they will strike at him, attempting at once to tear him apart and get the sword out of their back.

[Arkhosia]

((To the Temple of Inari Forest!))

[Lost_Deep]

Trick's Investigations

"I have to admit," Freia says carefully, "If you did have a pet, I was expecting something more... insectoid." she pats the top of the chest carefully, but not for long.

[Morty]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Wenomir doesn't turn around as the heads lunge towards him. Instead, he simply makes another leap, this one carrying him towards the hind legs of the beast, and tearing the sword out of its body at a painful angle.

Once he lands on the street behind it, he immediately gets up and spins around in a defensive pirouette, and any head or other appendage that tries to strike at him will be met with a whirling barrier of steel.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cliffs]

KR doesn't notice the new demon, being entirely focused on slipping away from the current pack. Neither does she notice the psionic scan.

The ice cracks a little bit, but doesn't shatter yet. Surely if they keep trying, they'll be able to break through!

[Cliffs]

While the bat-demons continue their relentless assault against the block of ice the recently summoned construct suddenly stops in midair. It doesn't turn however, most due to the fact it doesn't need to. Instead it simply starts to fly backwards in the direction of KR.

[Halae]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Three of the six heads of the beast come for Wenomir, but one pulls back in time not to be skewered. three of the heads are watching, but the pair that his his blade are roaring in pain - he chopped into the jaw of one, and the other ran it's eyes into the spinning sword. A little closer and he may have even stabbed that one's brain, but it's lucky to only be blinded.

[Trick's Investigations]

"I own a giant beetle, actually. His name's Jolly, he's just not around right now," She shrugs, "There's a stabling service here in the city, so I left him with them. At least for a little while."

Luggage licks Freia's leg, and then waddles back over into the corner where he'd been before, where Trick goes to pet his lid. She smiles wistfully at the pet,a longing hidden behind her soft expression.

[Morty]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Wenomir hops backward, but those who expect him to withdraw would be wrong. Instead, he makes yet another leap upwards and forwards, this time actually somersaulting into the air, his blade spinning and gathering momentum before it crashes into the head whose jaw he had wounded earlier with tremendous force from above. He hopes to simply crack the hydra's skull. He's heard conflicting stories of the monster's heads growing back after being severed, but he'd rather not take any chances.

[Halae]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Two of the heads did indeed expect him to withdraw, and strike where he would have been had he done so. Good move, swordsman. However, one of the heads moves to bite at Wenomir even as he moves through the air, defending its stunned brother. The other heads are waiting for a chance to strike. If he gets caught, he may well be torn apart.

[Lost_Deep]

[Trick's Investigations]

"I own a giant beetle, actually. His name's Jolly, he's just not around right now," She shrugs, "There's a stabling service here in the city, so I left him with them. At least for a little while."

Luggage licks Freia's leg, and then waddles back over into the corner where he'd been before, where Trick goes to pet his lid. She smiles wistfully at the pet,a longing hidden behind her soft expression.

Freia sets her smart clothes to clean that pant leg. "I have been a guest to a number of eccentric, rich people. I may not have gone far in the galaxy as a whole, but I have been around my sector extensively. I have been inside the personal residences of a variety of high-class collectors, and on one occasion a self-declared pirate lord. Congratulations, Trick; that is the oddest pet I have ever seen."

[Morty]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Wenomir avoids the bite with a desperate twist of his body, landing with a thud on the cracked asphalt. He gets up immediately, ignoring the pain in the right side of his body, and makes a few warding cuts in the heads' direction. His assault has been stopped for now.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Cliffs]

KR continues to fly away, though she knows that her trap will go off soon, and the demons might locate her.

The ice sphere is breached! A jet of mist hisses out of the crack, then it explodes, ejecting razor sharp shards of ice that may make life uncomfortable for the demons that were previously trying to attack it.

[Halae]

[Trick's Investigations]

"What, Luggage? He's a frost mimic. Mimics are ambush predators - you find them a lot on the sword coast, and they're pretty hard to kill if you piss them off. Luggage here was bred by a circle of magi who were going to use him as a guard. Illicit, cruel. Darian rescued him when he wasn't even a year old, and gave him to me as a Simril gift. He's been an amazing guardian ever since."

Trick is saddened when she says the name Darian. Someone she knew, maybe? In response to hearing the sadness in his mistress' voice, Luggage reaches out his long tongue and licks Trick's arm, which makes her smile, and she scratches him new the back of the lid, vigorously, where he likes it. His lid opens and closes rapidly, and his good mood is infectious for the tiefling, and possibly for Freia as well.

[Yellow Zone]

The Hydra keeps its distance, and keeps its heads out in front of it, splayed out in a patten that shows it's not an inexperienced combatant - the two on top are read to strike if Wenomir gets too close. The two below are protecting the two injured heads, one that can't see and one that has a cloven jaw. It makes a few hissing noises, but makes no move yet. It's learned to be wary of the sword in a human's hands.

[Morty]

[Yellow Zone]

Wenomir begins to approach the hydra slowly, moving his sword through the air in a hypnotic pattern. Then, he suddenly lunges forward in a rapid motion, by all appearances trying another attack. However, should the heads strike at him, it proves to be merely a feint - he will immediately dodge backwards, swinging his sword in a vicious arc, trying to brutally cut through the jaws of at least one head - two, if he's lucky enough to catch them both.

[Lost_Deep]

Trick's Investigations

Freia nods. She doesn't push the issue for now. "Well, I think I'll be going. I'm still getting used to the city."

[Halae]

[Trick's Investigations]

Trick nods and smiles, "Then we'll talk later, once we're both home," she says, "Hope your day goes well."

End Scene!

[Yellow Zone Street]

One sees the feint for what it is and doesn't move forward, but the strike of the other is very fast, and falls right into Wenomir's trap, and the conflicting momentum of the pair head and sword colliding shears the lower jaw off the head immediately.

There's a sickening moment as the other four heads that can see look towards the now jawless head, sputting and coughing as it is, before it drops to the ground and dies, wide-eyed. Wenomir may well recognize that as death from shock. Something of a gruesome way to go.

One down, two debilitated, three to go. The Hydra is giving Wenomir a wide berth now.

[Morty]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Wenomir begins to move again, this time running around the hydra and trying to get to its side. He runs extremely fast, of course, in an attempt to make it impossible for it to turn quickly enough for all the heads to face him at once. The arc of his run narrows as he goes, and ends when he tries to make a quick, vicious jab at the hydra's side. His intention is to deal a heavily haemorrhaging wound - maybe he can bleed the beast out.

[Halae]

[Yellow Zone Street]

As Wenomir moves towards the Hydra, it does something he may not expect - it moves away, dragging the dead head as the blinded one works to tear the dead weight off at the stump. The heads that retain their sight continue to watch the swordsman, but it's very clearly decided that fighting a human like Wenomir just isn't worth the trouble, and is rapidly trying to move away down the street, in search of easier prey.

[Morty]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Wenomir decides to press his advantage at this point, but not recklessly. He allows the hydra to back away a bit, to lull it into a false sense of security, before rushing forward in an eye-wateringly quick move that makes him look as though he just disappeared and reappeared near the monster, and trying to thrust his sword into its side as it retreats. He will then then pull it away immediately, at an angle poised to cause a nasty, bleeding wound.

[Halae]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Pain and rage can be heard in the Hydra's cries as Wenomir's blade strikes home. Every head that still can - even, clumsily, the blind one and the one with the damaged jaw - will surge towards him, looking to kill him before he can make another attack.

[Morty]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Wenomir was expecting the hydra to attack, and attack ferociously, but he still doesn't quite manage to evade its lunge fully. He twists his body backwards and rolls away, which allows him to avoid being chomped in half - but the snout of one of the heads catches him in the chest. His armour absorbs the worst of the impact, thus saving his ribs, but he's still send clumsily flying back towards the buildings lining the street. He gets up with a grimace of pain.

[Halae]

[Yellow Zone Street]

The Hydra continues to roar, though it's weakened more now, and begins to move towards its prone opponent. But as it moves one of its legs stumbles, even with five heads the coordination it needs muted by bloodloss. That last strike very nearly pierced its heart, and now its lifeblood is spilling out the wound in it's side.

Perhaps somewhat intimidatingly, the beast will pass out from exsanguination just as it moves within range of attacking the swordsman, one of the heads even coming to rest at his feet. It only has moments left to live before it bleeds out entirely.

[Morty]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Wenomir watches the hydra bleed out calmly, sword resting against the ground. He would deliver a mercy-kill, but he's not sure how to go about doing that with this kind of beast, so he just needs to stick around and make sure it bleeds out.

[Halae]

[Yellow Zone Street]

Within a few more moments, the beast is very dead, no longer breathing and, if he cares to check, even bleeding. The only blood coming out now is the blood leaking out of its wounds, not being pumped out. The heart has stopped and there's no activity left in the heads.

However, as Wenomir is looking the beast over, he may realize something significant - the Hydra's lower body is swollen with a trio of lumps. It may very well have been pregnant and near birthing when he killed it.

[Morty]

[Yellow Zone Street ==> Yellow Zone Park]

Wenomir peers at the eggs. Hydra eggs. Hatching them should be easy enough... and then Watchtower could have three hydras at its command. Surely a properly raised, trained, tamed and instructed one would be even more deadly than the one he just killed. The warrior calls some Evolution Industries employees to haul the eggs back to the keep while he goes to his meeting place with Magtok, which is located in a well-kept park.