Serious Plots 6: Srs bsns

[Fenric]

Linda sits up, not making any move to rise up further than that just yet.

Well... that went from "ok" to "quite a bit over my head" in short order. Dropped my rifle and my baton in the hallway, all I've got left is my service pistol now. Hope Mr. Arlem's ok... he seemed nice. And I didn't get to say thanks properly to that woman who saved me.

[Rebonack]

[An Unremarkable Cliff]

"A museum might be a nice change of pace," Geneva muses as she begins fiddling with her equipment. Thankfully there aren't any unexpected surprises as she eases the bridge open once more, though not before leaving a few pieces of discrete looking equipment atop the cliff to gather telemetry while she's away. That will still be useful! The more information she has on a given universe, the easier it is to create a stable bridge.

After all, having a bridge snap shut on you in transit is bad.

You might end up nowhere and nowhen.

And that's a pretty terrible not-place to be.

This time around, the sound of the bridge opening isn't quite as harsh. More of a gentle creaking rather than a sharp crack. Without much fanfare, Geneva heads back into the Nexus.

Those readings on the anomalous magic source, though...

She'll have to check that out again some other time. Nick hadn't ever mentioned anything about magic native to his home universe.

[Deathkeeper]

An Unremarkable Cliff

Nick follows Geneva eagerly. Being back home makes him reconsider if it was a good idea to try that anyway. It might be irresponsible, risking it when he has to worry about Nick Jr.
"Okay, so maybe we should head back to the city? We can poke around looking for something to do. We could find Nick Jr and play mini golf or something." Mini golf is a very hard sport for quadrupeds to play.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Nightmare]

Anika lands near Wenomir and shifts back into her humanoid form. "Making you fight old battles? Must be dull, we should hurry and put a end to this. Its just going to throw more stuff at that to slow us down. Each moment we remain here, the risk of complete corruption goes higher. Believe me, I've fought it on numerous occasions."

[Rebonack]

[An Unremarkable Cliff]

Considering how varied Inside is, chances are there's somewhere that caters specifically to quadruped mini-golf. Certainly wouldn't be the weirdest thing Inside.

Geneva leaves a second batch of equipment on the Nexus side of the bridge, poking at her PIPgear now and again to make sure everything is in working order. They'll be back. Eventually. There are still important things to learn, after all.

"Back to the City," Geneva agrees. "There's a museum I've been meaning to check out. Not as exciting as miniature golf, I'm sure. But the general premise is fascinating. Are you familiar with those 'Team Nightmare' people? The first time I heard about it I assumed they were another evil trainer team."

She pulls a sour face at that thought.

"But apparently they're a group of equestrians that are... sort of not undead?"

Geneva is no expert on the subject.

"Anyway, they've opened a museum filled with artifacts they've found in this 'Gloom' place. Some kind of dreary echo of reality. Apparently it tends to collect lost civilizations like sofas collect lost change, so they have quite an interesting array of unusual cultural artifacts, art pieces, and strange devices. I thought it might be a nice break from death-defying adventures."

A boring museum might not be the sort of place Nick Jr would enjoy.

[Deathkeeper]

An Unremarkable Path to Inside

Nick shakes himself, going back to being a griffin somewhere within the motion. "Yeah, worked with them a few times. Inside is too big and crazy for us to chastise vigilantes much. And their neighborhood kind of polices itself which is good and bad. They've been friendly, at least. But yeah, I can look at the artifacts they've dredged up. Might want to dress down a bit before we get there. Shouldn't bring rifles to a museum."
That's what Geneva's PiPgear is for.

[Rebonack]

[An Unremarkable Cliff]

"Considering that Inside may or may not be infinitely large policing the whole thing is probably physically impossible," Geneva muses. She's heard of cartographers going mad trying to map out the whole place. Doesn't help that nothing seems content with staying put. Except the things that do. There's no real rhyme or reason to it.

She begins stowing equipment away in her inventory, a few minutes worth of fiddling at least. Once the task is done?

Time to take off back to Inside!

Hopefully their next outing will go a bit more to plan.

Buuuuuut...

Come on.

This is a museum we're talking about.

When's the last time someone in the Nexus visited a museum and nothing weird happened?

[Morty]

[The Nightmare]

"Fought 'it'?" Wenomir asks as he marches towards the main tower and heads for the stairs. "Do you recognize the creature we're fighting?"

[Shadowcaller]

[The Nightmare]

"Yeah, or at least I think it is the same thing." Anika remarks as she heads after Wenomir. "Its a place called 'the nightmare', it is a twisted version of the dream realm druids channel their powers from. It can use your memories against you, summon twisted creatures from your dreams, and eventually turning you into a twisted version of yourself." She explains.

[Shadowcaller]

[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.

[Rivi Des]

The fetch's mask grins at Kitty as she rushes towards it and lowers its guard, but as she pounces at it, the spirit suddenly turns into a cloud of black some which instantly moves behind her where the fetch reforms and attempts to grab and pull at Kitty's tail while giggling madly. If it manages to touch her, she will feel a intense burn, as if its touch was poisonous to her.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty topples right through the fetch, totally caught off guard by the sudden lack of solidity. The fetch can grab her tail with ease and Kitty screams in pain. She tries to kick the fetch in a desperate scramble to free herself from the searing pain.

[FireFox]

Spoiler: Previously on...

Show

[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.

[Ballroom]

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.

[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".

[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.

Linda sits up, not making any move to rise up further than that just yet.

Well... that went from "ok" to "quite a bit over my head" in short order. Dropped my rifle and my baton in the hallway, all I've got left is my service pistol now. Hope Mr. Arlem's ok... he seemed nice. And I didn't get to say thanks properly to that woman who saved me.

[Upstairs]

Arlem is doing an absolutely stellar job of intimidating these humans. Of the two cultists standing in the left room, neither stop him from retrieving his dagger. One has frozen up pointing the rifle at the mirrored mask while the other has dropped his gun and is starting to put his hands on his fallen comrade's gashed throat. Behind the shapeshifter, the guy with the machine gun takes aim at his back and holds down the trigger. Dozens of high powered rounds fill the air. If these richochet off as well, the air may be considerably more filled than everyone who isn't bulletproof may prefer. Nobody is targeting Carrie directly, but it's possible she got close enough to become involved with that. The man with the shotgun ducks behind the wall off to the side of the doorway (the room on the right side of the hall) and scrambles to reload with shells from a pouch on his vest.

[Ballroom]

The elderly cultist is a bit too busy holding the collar of his robe up to his neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding to surrender. He's still stunned and unable to focus on either Quinn or Reinholdt, much less cast at them, but that could change in a few moments. If the sword wound wasn't deep enough to prevent him from speaking, his next word could be deadly.

[Front Entrance]

Golem puts a hand on Linda's shoulder and makes an attempt to soften her voice. It's one thing to be told "expect monsters", it's quite another to have one rush out at you. If you're feeling over your head, I don't feel so bad about getting mauled earlier. There are still hostiles in the building, not just where your mates are fighting on the second floor, but there's a room on the side where a bunch of them are holed up with firearms. We have more security teams on their way by air, but that means we need to secure a Landing Zone or two around this place. What do you want to do?

[Fenric]

[Front Entrance]

Linda nods, then chuckles.

I'd like to call down an airstrike. As that's probably out of the question...

Walking into a firefight without intel and armed with a light sidearm is an easy way to need resurrection: let's get that landing zone set up - reinforcements would be good about now.

She hauls herself back to her feet and looks around

How big are we talking?

[Recaiden]

[Upstairs]

Perhaps intimidating them was not what he ought to have been doing.
Arlem reaches an open hand to smoothly but firmly push the rifle's muzzle down.
How nice. They didn't listen to the first warning, but now that it's been demonstrated, they're quiet and no one else needs to get stabbed.

But then the one starts moving, and the high-powered bullets start striking him (and bouncing off of him just the same). Maybe they haven't quite learned. Arlem lashes out with the knife at the other, rifle-less cultist in this room. He'd best draw those hands away from his friend quick, or he's liable to lose the use of them.

Just what do you think you're doing? That's my food. Get your own; there's plenty up here.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty topples right through the fetch, totally caught off guard by the sudden lack of solidity. The fetch can grab her tail with ease and Kitty screams in pain. She tries to kick the fetch in a desperate scramble to free herself from the searing pain.

[Rivi Des]

The kick hits, but the fetch refuses to let go, instead it grabs another of her tails and starts pulling each tail in different directions, as to rip them off her.
But before it can finish such a action a voice echos across across the area.

"Let her go." The tone is serene, calm and soothing, yet echos like thunder.

Kitty can feel the fetch letting go of her, which probably will cause her to drop down on the ground.

"Die." The voice continues in the same soothing tone.
If Kitty looks up, she will see the fetch cutting its own throat with its claws. But what might somehow really draw her attention is Obriane herself, or rather someone who very much looks like her.



She is taller for one, with with glowing marks all across her nude body. Yet there is something more to her than what can be seen, even as the fetch lifeless body falls to the ground near the kitsune, there will be a little voice in her head telling her to ignore it and just gaze upon this glorious being.

The spirits, all the other fetches, are gathering around her like a swarm of insects drawn to a lamppost. Then the glorious being speaks again.
"That goes for all of you, my children. Die."

The spirits simply start attacking one another, letting one another consume each others essence, helping one another to commit suicides in a macabre fashion.

The glorious being just walks past them however, coming towards Kitty with the most wonderful friendly smile on her face. She bends down and offer a hand to help the kitsune up.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty simply sits on the ground and stares at... Obriane? She's filled with awe for this beautiful being before her. The slaughter of the spirits all around her doesn't even draw a glance. And through it all, she's approaching Kitty.

"Obriane?" This is so surreal. Kitty takes the offered hand and gets to her feet. "It's really you, isn't it?" Perhaps it's not so strange that the girlfriend she's so devoted to could be this awe inspiring being, but it's a shock to take it in. She reaches to grab hold of her other hand as well.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

"I go by many names, my lovely one." 'Obriane' assures her with the same warm smile as before as she helps Kitty up. "Undress, get on your knees. Show your devotion to me." It is not a demand, the being simply knows that she will obey, so her tone is the same, soothing and all-loving.

Kitty will of course not notice Obriane's parents carefully moving out of the house, staring in shock at all they see.

[The Bushranger]

[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.

The elderly cultist is a bit too busy holding the collar of his robe up to his neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding to surrender. He's still stunned and unable to focus on either Quinn or Reinholdt, much less cast at them, but that could change in a few moments. If the sword wound wasn't deep enough to prevent him from speaking, his next word could be deadly.

Quinn sighs, looking at the flailing cat and the muted wizard, and for a moment considers her options before...

She gets.

AN IDEA!

"Reinholdt! Use your tail to cauterize his wound and then immediately gag him with something!"

[Reinholdt]

[Ballroom]

Reinholdt glares at Quinn. He spends a whole round going to put his tail out and now she wants him not to and to use his misfortune for her own gain?
Has she always been this attractive?

The cat scurries over to the wizard and goes to drape his tail over the man's throat. Really, the pain and fire is only getting worse and he really does need to put that thing out. But while we're over here in the wizard's personal space and doing crazy stupid things with tails that aren't what they're meant to be used for, Rein attempts to jab the wizard's lower neck with a needle and inject him with a heavy tranquilizer.

It maaay be best not to ask why Rein has tranquilizers just lying around in his hammerspace waiting to be used.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty looks shocked for a moment, but that wears off quickly. She immediately shrugs her jacket off her shoulders and her sweater soon follows. In complete disregard for the temperature or where they are, she peels off her shirt. She's already not wearing anything under that, so she's on to her pants next...

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

As Kitty sheds her clothing, under the eyes of obriane's equally shocked parents, something that first appear like a raven dive bombs 'Obriane', going right for her throat. But this glorious being is not caught unaware, with a steady hand, she grapples the creature mid-air, just inches from her throat and holds it there, looking at it with the same serene expression as she watched the fetches commit suicide around her.

Now Kitty will be able to get a better view of the thing, it is the spirit that she fought before, reduced to small snake of black smoke. Nonetheless it continues to spew out its hatred towards Obriane as before, "NO! You deserve to die, its not fair! You should suffer, SUFFER YOU MONSTER!"

'Obriane' just shakes her head however. "How foolish of me." She then turns her glorious gaze to Kitty once again, offering the spirit to her with a friendly smile. "Devour it, my lovely one. Consume her slowly, so that it may suffer for this sacrilege."

While Kitty might not know it, she, like all fey, can actually consume other spirits. It is not common though, as such an act can make the fey suffer insanity or spiritual sickness, it does, however, let them take the spirits essence into theirs however, making them more that they once were. What they gain however, depends on the spirit they consumed.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty takes the spirit in her hands, her hatred for the being apparent in her bared teeth. "Yes." She says simply in agreement. She gets down on all fours like a beast and pins the wisp of black smoke to the ground with her hands. Without ceremony she sinks her sharp teeth into it and twists her head to tear at it. Piece by piece she'll tear the spirit apart and consume it.

When she's done she rises to her knees and places her hands on Obriane's thighs. "It's done, my love." She says with pride.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

"No! Please! Not now! I was so closeeee..." The spirit screams as it is being consumed by Kitty, eventually being reduced to the sad whimpers of a little girl as its voice seems to fail it. But Kitty, as she devours its essence, will still be able to hear its final thoughts. Mom, dad, sorry I couldn't avenge you.

Kitty will gain more than that however, she will get glimpses of memories of a human girl being visited by a fetch in her bedroom, but as it attempted to take her away, her father enters the room.
What follows is a brutal slaughter of the girls father, and then her mother as the fetch easily overpowers them both.

While those images are crystal clear, the rest of the memories are faded. Instead of real memories, they are more akin to strong emotions of being torn apart, followed by deep anguish and suffering that continues for a very long time.

Yet those memories give away for a new purpose, which aspects Kitty will feel become a part of her. This spirit was a bloodthirsty hunter. It was made to track down prey and kill it, like a vicious hunting dog. That ferocity and blood-thirst, not to mention its ability to track, will be what Kitty could gain.

'Obriane' smiles proudly at Kitty as she has gone down on her knees to run her hand across the kitsunes short hair as if she was petting her. "Yes, good work. Very good work."

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty's triumph is soon tarnished with the visions she receives. The kitsune falters, falling back to her hands and knees. "Wha- what is this?" She shakes like a leaf and is for the first time since Obriane changed distracted away from her magnificence. "No don't..." She pulls her own hair and pushes her face into the ground. A sob shakes her whole body as she weeps in pain and despair.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Suddenly 'Obriane' looks puzzled at Kitty when she breaks down weeping, and that is all her mother needs.
"Obriane!" She calls out, not sure what to actually say in such a situation, she simply trusts in her control over her daughter. "You just made your friend cry, so whatever you are doing, it stops now." She orders as she marches up to 'Obriane', looking like she might drag her by the ear, despite their obvious height differences.

'Obriane' blinks, and the next moment it is over, the divine being that once sat there is replaced by the Obriane Kitty had always known, dressed in her rather drab winter clothes, her antlers still filed down to nothing. She stares at her mother in utter shock, and then looks down at the weeping Kitty on the ground. "K-kitty!" She will attempt to hug the kitsune. "I'm s-so sorry, I don't know what happened."

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty clings to Obriane and manages to compose herself somewhat. "Every-" Kitty's voice cracks and she takes a moment to continue. "Everything's fine now, right? We stopped them." Though upon looking back, Kitty can really start to see how disturbing it all was. She shudders in Obriane's grasp, though that could just as easily be from the cold. It's freezing and she's still half naked.

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

Obriane hugs Kitty even tighter. "Yeah, thanks to you." She says with her eyes half-closed, kissing Kitty's hair.
"Let's get you two inside, people are already coming to see what happened." Aurora tells them as she attempts to help them up. "You both must be so cold." They could talk about that just had happened later. Aurora always knew that her daughter was special, yet nothing like that had never happened before...
Obriane will get up, and attempts to help Kitty do the same, if she comes along, she will soon be back in the warm safety of the house. While Philip, Obriane's brother is right by his mother, Obriane's father is nowhere to be seen however, he must be elsewhere.

Kitty will be seated down in a old couch along with her girlfriend as Aurora moves around what must be the kitchen. "I'll have some warm milk for you to drink soon. Just try to relax now."

Obriane leans against Kitty, her arm reaching around her to hold her close as she pulls a blanket over them both. Philip simply watches them curiously.

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

Kitty tries to forget the horrible imagery that consuming the spirit forced into her mind, but it's a difficult thing to do. They were so vivid... She hugs her girlfriend close, shivering under the covers. There are so many unanswered questions about what just happened. "Do you," she begins when Aurora steps away, "remember what happened out there?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Rivi Des]

"I remember being overwhelmed by... something. The rest was like a dream, I remember doing things but I can't remember what anymore. I remember you crying though, and then my mothers voice... after that, everything went back to normal." She admits as her gaze lingers on her girlfriend. "Did- did I hurt you, Kitty?"

[Gullara]

[Rivi Des]

"Not exactly..." Kitty hesitates. It's hard to describe after the fact. "You were like a goddess. I couldn't disappoint you." Even reflecting on it now, it's hard to imagine doing anything differently.