Serious Plots 6: Srs bsns

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty bares her teeth in fierce defiance at the horde of spirits. "I did, and I'll do it again if you get anywhere near us!" She threatens, despite the unlikely odds facing her. Four flames alight around her, to punctuate her point. She wasn't about to back down from protecting Obriane and her family.

[Rivi Des]

Obriane steps up to her side, and takes a beep breath before she shouts. "GET AWAY FROM US!" She screams at the top of her lungs in a sudden adrenaline rush, her cheeks flushed with anger.

The spirits are all silenced for a moment until the goat-masked spirit speaks up again. "Poor master is confused, so very confused." It moves towards them with open arms, its head tilted slightly to the side as it somehow manages a genuinely friendly smile. "I will make it all better though, I can help you remember what you've forgotten. I am the greatest and most loyal of your creations, remember? Your 'dog'."

Obriane is still too flustered to even reply, she breathes heavily, just staring at the black spirit.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

"Don't move any closer." Kitty warns. Not only do her words promise a threat, but her foxfire flares up behind her, reminding this spirit what she can do to it. The only reason she's hesitating at all is just how strange this spirit is acting. Why is it acting like it knows Obriane? That makes no sense.

[FireFox]

[Upstairs]

The knife finds soft flesh to dig into and the shooter's firing stops soon after it begun. A pair of left hands reach out from the doorway and start pulling him back into the room and behind better cover. He gasps and groans and then, when the pain starts to shine through the adrenaline fog, cries out and begs his brothers for help. The shooter in the right doorway answers Arlem's telepathic message by running half a belt of ammunition through his machine gun. It neither kills nor suppresses the shapeshifter, but it does finish off any uncertainty some less-than-fanatics may be feeling. Once the shooting starts, it's hard to stop. What are they going to do, not use their cool guns and all that ammunition? After seeing his enemy leap over his line of automatic fire, the man in the right doorway drops prone and starts re-positioning his heavy gun. Another cultist steps out over him, points a semi-automatic shotgun in Arlem's general direction, and starts blasting buckshot as fast as he can pull the trigger. All of these men are wearing various forms of hearing protection, so they won't be injured by the sounds of their own firearms going off in the enclosed space. Accidentally shooting each other if their target moves between the two rooms, on the other hand, well, that's very much a possibility if this keeps up.

Carrie will find nobody attacking her at all. Not until she makes it to the second floor at any rate and even then she'd have to start posing more of an immediate threat than Arlem. So she has some freedom to act.


[Front Entrance]

The woman known as Golem watches over Linda as Carrie charges back into the fray. With no visible targets and friendlies on both floors, there's not much they can offer in the way of suppressive fire. Although some of the contractors look like they want to pour bullets into the room the armed teenagers barricaded themselves into.


[Ballroom]

The wizard gets his staff up in the way of Quinn's thrust. The wood snaps, but keeps her sword from running him through. Not enough to keep his neck from being cut, though. She probably won't be able to tell how badly, unless she uses her magic or psychic senses, because the staff releases it's stored magic with a blinding flash of light and the concussive sonic blast of thunder. He staggers back, one hand clutching at his throat and the other starting to gesture with arcane purpose. Which is when Reinholdt savages his legs. The pain is enough to disrupt his spell. In trying to jump away while kicking the cat off his own foot, the wounded old man just trips himself up and falls to the polished wood floor.

[Recaiden]

[Upstairs]

Arlem straightens up and to the left door. Goodness, that is loud. His ears close up a bit; hope no one on the other end of the communicator has anything critical to report. The buckshot, and other bullets that start finding their mark, bounce off as if they were made of rubber or he were made of steel. Or even both.
My knife. I'll be taking it back now.
His reaches down to take the hilt and rip it out of its victim, daring the other two men to try to stop him.

[The Bushranger]

[Ballroom]

Reinholdt flings himself in the other direction that Quinn's dodging, carefully avoiding the pyrotechnics. Well mostly. The tip of his tail seems to be on fire. A minor nuisance, honest. Rein doesn't seem to notice at the moment honestly, now darting across the ground in a sort of flank as he moves to latch onto the fireball throwing wizard's ankles and bite and claw them as hard as he can. It's been too long since he tasted the blood of his enemies. Rawr.

The wizard gets his staff up in the way of Quinn's thrust. The wood snaps, but keeps her sword from running him through. Not enough to keep his neck from being cut, though. She probably won't be able to tell how badly, unless she uses her magic or psychic senses, because the staff releases it's stored magic with a blinding flash of light and the concussive sonic blast of thunder. He staggers back, one hand clutching at his throat and the other starting to gesture with arcane purpose. Which is when Reinholdt savages his legs. The pain is enough to disrupt his spell. In trying to jump away while kicking the cat off his own foot, the wounded old man just trips himself up and falls to the polished wood floor.

Paladin-and-Cat Combo, Go!

Quinn staggers a bit herself at the sudden, unexpected blast, but she rallies enough to see the wizard fall. Which is why she lunges forwards, her sword pointing out in the general direction of the fallen wizard and said already-wounded throat.

"Surrender, and be spared!" she snaps out, her voice carrying the weight of Authoriteh that must be Respected.

[Beans]

[Ground Floor > Upstairs]
As Carrie trudges up the stairs, her fingers dig into the wood. She grips the material, pouring energy into her rapidly-increasing anima. The dark energy surrounding her flares.
Fingers gouging through the surface of the stairs, she ascends as a black disc thuds into life on her brow like a tiny opening to a very, very deep void. Look into it long enough and you'd swear old and wretched things looked back, though that would be a mistake as you'd be taking your eyes off her hands and her weaponized instrument.
Coming into the line of fire of the gunners, she bares what are now fangs, tuning her instrument-warhammer. "Pull those triggers again and you'll regret it."
And they will, as the first lucky customer to try to shoot Carrie is going to feel incisions burst to life across their skin. If anyone took the time to translate them (and knew the language) it'd add insult to injury by revealing the ragged, bleeding wounds spell out "JERK".

[Reinholdt]

[Ballroom]

$6.29 at the first window.

Ahhhhowowowieow. Geeze, why? Noises should not be that loud. Reinholdt detaches himself from the fallen wizard and nurses his poor ears. At which point, he realizes his tail is on fire. GAH. Why didn't anyone tell him? Well maybe they did, but he's too deaf right now to hear them. Oh Neirian the pain. He immediately sets about putting himself out, which actually proves more difficult than expected because he has to catch his tail first and that is a feat in and of itself. Stupid thing has a mind of its own.

[Ashen Lilies]

[The Nightmare]

Anika's senses will point her... up? It seems that if there's to be any resolution to this nightmare, it lies at the top of the spire. Well, that's just typical, isn't it.

Speaking of typical things, a low rumbling might clue the pair of them in to an upcoming obstacle. If they're a bit slow on the uptake, well, then the rumbling will help by getting larger, building up in intensity until there's a colossal crash as something smashes through the keep's doors.

It's a sight that Anika might find somewhat familiar - a massive centaur-like being with a capacious gut and long tusks, brandishing a wicked double-ended polearm. This particular pitlord differs from the ones of Anika's world however in that it appears to be little more than a shell made of giant slabs of jagged metal. It barrels across the courtyard at a gallop, swinging one end of its polearm low in an attempt to separate Wenomir's top half from his lower half.

[The Nightmare]

Wenomir's eyes narrow as he recognizes his enemy during the real battle of Vigil... or something that looks like it, anyway. Some sort of weird facsimile. But he didn't have the Answer back then.

The polearm will only cut air, since Wenomir jumps off Anika's back well before it reaches him. His jump carries him above the massive weapon and onto the monster's arm, from where he tries to jump onto its back. If he manages to land there, he'll attempt to drive his sword into its back, using the momentum of his fall.

[The Nightmare]

A pitlord? No, that wasn't real. Just another illusion protecting the creature producing this dream. Yet Wenomir was fighting it, damn it.
Anika attempts diving underneath the beast, running in-between it's legs, and then change into her humanoid form once she had put a relatively safe distance between it and her. Once that is done, she is going to aim a beam of sun fire at the creatures eyes as soon as it turns to look at Wenomir, attempting to blind it.

"Our foe is at the top of the tower! We can't fight all its illusions!" She yells at Wenomir.

[The Nightmare]

Anika's attack strikes true, blinding the giant metal demon. What effect this has on the outcome of the fight might fall under some question, however, since being blinded doesn't stop the pitlord from bucking, swinging its arms and torso around to dislodge Wenomir while laying about with its giant weapon. I'm not sure about Wenomir's history with giant creatures, but if he manages to get out of this then he'll be able to definitively, for the rest of his days, claim that any given event isn't his first rodeo.

[Morty]

[The Nightmare]

Wenomir ducks and weaves desperately. Once it becomes clear that he can't hold onto the monster without being bisected or thrown off, he tries to cut the demon's arm as it passes near him. He aims for the weakest-looking spot and swings with all his might... before unceremoniously tumbling off its back.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Nightmare]

Crap. Anika gestures towards Wenomir as he falls off the back of the beast and a glowing green root shoots out from her arm and attempts to grab Wenomir before he reaches the ground to pull him towards her. She can't stop him from hitting the ground, but she could make sure that he didn't land right next to the pit lord which probably was going to go on a rampage now.

[Rivi Des]

"Stay away." Obriane repeats with the same resentment, yet lacking the same force and energy, her voice sounds strained after screaming like that.

Yet the goat-masked spirit does not heed their words. It floats forward. "I will show you, so that you might determine for yourself master. Just like you instructed me to."

It then speak words, no, it does not even open its mouth, nor does any sound come out. Instead it conveys meaning, pure information, not connected to any verbal utterances. This is the first language, the one used by the oni and their servants, including the fey and fae.
Kitty, while she probably never heard the language before, will instantly understand it, yet it is too much to grasp all at once. Like hundreds of books compressed into one single sentence.

It looks like it has stunned Obriane though, her eyes opened wide.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Okay, that's enough of that. It's going to get some information across, but as soon as Kitty recovers from the shock of it she thrusts out her hands and a torrent of foxfire washes over the spirit. Let's see it be so bold while it's burning.

[Ashen Lilies]

[The Nightmare]

Wenomir manages to land a glancing blow on the demon... that's crushingly effective. The Answer seems to shear through the demon's metal hide like dry leaves, carving a deep rent into its arm. The demon responds in fury, continuing to lay about itself with violent abandon. Approaching again is going to be tricky.

[Morty]

[The Nightmare]

Right. That's not a healthy environment for a hand-to-hand fighter. But maybe the druid will have more luck. As he backs away from the demon, Wenomir shouts:

"Throw something at the wound I made!"

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty will be able to grasp some of the ideas conveyed, names such as fae and their restlessness and strive for amusements. Of fetches and what they use to create them, the souls of people and the essence of kami intertwined into one single being, this 'dog' being one of them. She also got across some kind of instructions, these beings are here since they were ordered to by one of them.

The 'dog' hisses loudly as Kitty's torrent of flames reaches it and is forced back as the spirits it surrounded itself with like a cloak comes to its aid, putting the flames out. "Grahah, ignorant fool, you barely understand what you are, don't you? Kitsunes are a pest that multiplies all too quickly. No one will mourn the death of one of them." It moves towards them now, swatting away the flames with its claws.

[The Nightmare]

Throw something... what? Anika had no idea how that was supposed to help, but there was no room for arguments here, he clearly had more experiences with this thing than she did. The problem was a clear lack of throwing material around her.
She had to think quickly, what did she have that possibly could be explosive? Reaching into her pockets she only finds a deck of cards and one of her steamy romance novels. Damn it, Anika. Couldn't you bring along something actually useful for once?!
But then it hit her, of course!
While she wasn't sure the reason of throwing something at the dream being, she could venture that something which could counteract its magic would work.
With no more hesitation she throws her novel at the wound, hoping her aim will strike true.
This is followed up with a blast of sunfire which ignites the pages of Forbidden Love and the magical ink it happen to have been written in, turning this steamy romance into a fireball of ignited passions, AKA, a explosion.

[Ashen Lilies]

[The Nightmare]

The explosive book lands true, the explosion ripping through the demon's arm and blowing it off entirely, as well as a sizeable chunk of its torso. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have put it out for the count - the demon lifts its massive polearm with its one remaining arm, and charges towards Anika, tearing a line in the ground before it with its blade.

[Morty]

[The Nightmare]

Just what Wenomir was waiting for... or so he'll claim, anyway. It's an opportunity, and he can always pretend he'd planned it all along later.

The warrior charges, matching and outpacing the demon's speed, and getting close while the thing is focused on the druid. The Answer cuts several straight lines across the monster's rear legs, aiming for the knees and other spots where they bend, or the armour is otherwise weaker.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Nightmare]

Oh crap.

Anika throws herself to the side, shifting into the shape of a eagle while she is in the air to fly out of the demons reach. Hopefully she would be fast enough.

[Rebonack]

[An Unremarkable Cliff]

Finding it had been...

Tricky.

But if there's anything Geneva is ever up to, it's a nice intellectual challenge.

Nick was able to give her a general location, but actually finding it? Well! That required a great deal of pouring over photographs, comparing maps, calculating fray-points in the underlying fabric of reality to ditermine the most likely locations for spontaneous bridges to form, and finally for Nick to just point it out to her from a great distance.

Of course he would recognize the cliff.

Griffins have exceptional eyesight.

Duh.

Regardless!

It's all still very exciting.

"I'm still picking up a residual bridge!" Geneva says excitedly as she alights atop a rocky escarpment. "I should be able to ease it open from either side with a few minutes of tuning. Even if the ambient physical laws are a bit dicey there, there should be enough bleed-over from the Nexus to get it open again from home-side," she rambles as she begins sub-vocalizing commands to her wrist computer. "Provided we aren't under heavy fire or get caught ins some kind of crazy magical storm leaving will be just as easy to arriving. Only a... twelve point eight percent chance of getting singed by clashing dimensional static. A nine percent improvement from the last iteration. Not bad!"

She grins a griffin-y grin at Nick.

"Well! Are you ready to introduce me to your parents? I know that's a pretty important tradition and I'm dying to get some readings on the other side. I think, maybe, with how similar your home is to mine, I might finally be able to make the last adjustments I need to open a bridge there."

[Deathkeeper]

An Unremarkable Cliff

"As long as you're sure we'll be fine on our way and back. Oh, and while we're there, make sure you avoid talking about me and my job. If the NCR finds out I'm alive I could get arrested for deserting." Nick cautions, which is why he didn't bring his uniform or his original weapons, just the bolt-action rifle his Union commander got him and his laser pistol, which isn't far from home's tech level.

This is unrelated to the reason Nick Jr. isn't coming. That's because his presence and Nick's in the same place in a world that isn't time-loop alt-verse friendly might cause a destabilization in the fabric of reality.
Maybe.

[Rebonack]

[An Unremarkable Cliff]

Maybe.

Or maybe that would just be a manifestation of a wild, Wild Wasteland.

"Right," Geneva replies with a nod. "And it would be best to not talk too much about the Nexus, either. Even though I can get the bridge open, it isn't going to be stable by any means. I... can't bring though refugees yet. The tech isn't developed enough."

Too many people crossing over might cause...

Complications.

The last thing anyone needs is complications.

"Okay, here it goes!" Geneva says, giving Nick's talons a little squeeze as she sends the command to her equipment. With a sudden CRACK! of displaced air, a bridge between universes is opened! It looks like little more than a rent between worlds. On one side, the Nexus. On the other?

Well.

A cliff that really isn't too different from the one in the Nexus. But the toxic looking grass and dreary sky on the other side certainly paints a contrast. Geneva's PIPgear immediately begins clicking at the low-level radiation.

"Ready?" she asks.

[Deathkeeper]

An Unremarkable Cliff

Nick winces instantly at the clicking.
"As long as you remembered the meds, I think that I'm ready. And if we get separated, we come back here in two days, no matter what. Got it?" he says, as prepared as ever.

[Rebonack]

[An Unremarkable Cliff]

"Got them right here," Geneva replies, patting her saddle-bag. "We've got four times as much as we'll need, easy. Just don't go diving headlong into any irradiated water."

That never ends well.

Ever.

And then?

Geneva takes a deep breath and steps through the portal.

There's a feeling of wrenching as she passes the threshold, a feeling she has felt before. Particularly when she visited the Marvel universe. The feeling of being conformed to a reality's rules.

Which...

Is odd.

Obviously her psionic abilities would be translated into magic, but her physical form...

Geneva blinks down at her... hands?

Wiggles her fingers.

"...human? Why human? Was this the wrong bridge?"

How puzzling! The other side of the rift is... pretty darn similar. Aside from being FAR more dreary. But that's the Wasteland for you. Down below sprawls the gutted, burned out remains of a settlement that looks to have been abandoned months ago.

[Deathkeeper]

An Unremarkable Cliff

Nick is just kind of staring out. Not at the rocks, not at the charred beams, just...staring. His fingers twitch, pulling at the black coat he's garbed in. Very little happens except for him mumbling something about bad colors for sunny weather.
Just...
Nothing.

And then? "No, I think we got it right. Dangit to hell." he mutters, running a hand through his hair and using words he's learned to use in front of Nick Jr. and Khannie.
"I might have to deck someone in the nose when we get back, Geneva, but first thing's first. Can you still get us back? This isn't where you were expecting, after all."

[Rebonack]

[An Unremarkable Cliff]

It could certainly be a lot sunnier than it is right now...

And so nice of Nick too use polite language. Well, more polite language, anyway. No doubt any Wastelander in earshot would make fun of him for it.

Geneva frowns, glancing down at her wrist computer. It's still responding to sub-vocalized commands, but from the readings she's getting? Obvious enough that it's mostly just from Nexus bleedover. "I'm not reading any ambient magic at all," she admits, her nose scrunching up in consternation. "Wait, no, scratch that. There's... something. But it's weak. And weird. Not something I recognize."

She taps at a few buttons.

"The magic bleedover from the Nexus will still be enough, even after the portal is mostly closed. We'll be okay," she says with a smile. "And... who is going to need a nose-punching? Anyone I know?"

Not sure how wise punching Fortuna in the snoot would be...

The topic is quickly waved away. "Actually, it doesn't matter, I-"

A blink.

As the fog over her memories regarding Nick dissolve a few beats after Nick's own. She kind of... stumbles a bit.

"Oh... um... oh... okay..." she mutters. There's that cute nose-scrunch of hers again. "Why did... no. No, Nexus weirdness. Best not to think about it. Better to do what we came here for." She flashes a smile. "Right?" This won't change the plan at all. It just means we won't be seeing as many quadrupeds as we were expecting."

But why would Fortuna do something like that...

[Deathkeeper]

An Unremarkable Cliff

Nick takes a step forward and gives Geneva a kiss. "Have I told you lately that I love you?" he asks her. It's a bit overwhelming, having all these memories return about them that were suppressed to keep Forte's narrative.
"I don't know if we should keep going. I had expected to fly but we'd have to walk miles and back. We could always try another time when we're prepared." he offers, ever the cautious one.

[Rebonack]

[An Unremarkable Cliff]

Geneva hugs Nick back. "Yes! Two and a half hours ago, when I was trying to decide which jacket I should take with me on our excursion." Of course she would keep track of things like that.

But then things get serious.

Geneva frowns, gazing out over the ruined landscape. The rough terrain is hilly, with ample slopes covered in jagged scree. Easy to slip on. Especially for someone who is quite accustom to flying. Getting injured here would be really bad news. So would getting ambushed. They're armed, sure. But Geneva was counting on her psionic abilities being translated to Equestrian-style magic. Her barriers and healing abilities would be vital for protecting them from the many dangers of the Wasteland. And if all else fails, flight would allow them to simply bypass the nastier things.

But now? They really wouldn't have much in the way of an advantage.

"You're right," she says with a sigh, deflating slightly. "We're more vulnerable here. And we didn't prepare for this journey. If we're going to see your parents, I would need to at least bring one of those external thaumatic reservoirs I've been fiddling with. With that I would still be able to employ my psionics. Might even be a good idea to ease the bridge open wide enough to get a vehicle of some kind through..."

She hums, pondering how best to approach the situation.

"We both took a day off for this. We're going to have to find some other way to utilize it."

Very true!

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty will be able to grasp some of the ideas conveyed, names such as fae and their restlessness and strive for amusements. Of fetches and what they use to create them, the souls of people and the essence of kami intertwined into one single being, this 'dog' being one of them. She also got across some kind of instructions, these beings are here since they were ordered to by one of them.

The 'dog' hisses loudly as Kitty's torrent of flames reaches it and is forced back as the spirits it surrounded itself with like a cloak comes to its aid, putting the flames out. "Grahah, ignorant fool, you barely understand what you are, don't you? Kitsunes are a pest that multiplies all too quickly. No one will mourn the death of one of them." It moves towards them now, swatting away the flames with its claws.

[Rivi Des]

Kitty takes a started step back when the fetch repels her flame and approaches them. She bares her teeth, unwilling to back down when this thing is threatening Obriane, and she looks for an opening when the claw is out wide. Without regard for her own safety, she'll pounce the fetch at the first opportunity.

[Ashen Lilies]

[The Nightmare]

Just what Wenomir was waiting for... or so he'll claim, anyway. It's an opportunity, and he can always pretend he'd planned it all along later.

The warrior charges, matching and outpacing the demon's speed, and getting close while the thing is focused on the druid. The Answer cuts several straight lines across the monster's rear legs, aiming for the knees and other spots where they bend, or the armour is otherwise weaker.

[The Nightmare]

Oh crap.

Anika throws herself to the side, shifting into the shape of a eagle while she is in the air to fly out of the demons reach. Hopefully she would be fast enough.

[The Nightmare]

"Calculated"

You have to say in in /all chat or it doesn't count.

Wenomir's attack is a crushing success as he manages to chop off the things rear legs - literally. It's falling over on top of him. Wenomir will be literally crushed if he doesn't get out of the way. Crushing. Success.

[Morty]

[The Nightmare]

Wenomir dives to the side and rolls, getting back up at a safe distance before the falling mass of metal would have even reached him.

"That went better than when I fought the real version," he remarks.

[Deathkeeper]

An Unremarkable Cliff

"Well, we could visit some other world. There's probably more gates around there. Or we could look around the city, go to a museum or something. Buy new hats. Practice barrel rolls. But maybe we should think about it outside of the atomic wasteland, if you don't have a new destination in mind?" Nick suggests.