Inside SIXTY FOOOOOOUR! OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOODS!

[deleteman900]

[Plothook Elementary School]

Huh. So far every PC in this plot aside from Wenomir has tried to (or has succeeded) in killing a child. What a bunch of jerk-faces.

"It's because I'm not playing Asriel's stupid game," Melissa insists. "I said that already." It's possible for a person to avoid being thralled to a cat sith when they're devoured, to resist having their will slaved and their desires warped by sheer force of will. But Melissa lacks the knowledge to really articulate this, so she's simply expressing it as her refusal to play the fae's 'game'. A child-like explanation befitting a child.

And then a whole bunch of stuff goes down!

Melissa gives an eep as two really huge dudes start moving around quickly, narrowly avoiding toppling over backwards.

The dispel accomplishes a great deal of nothing, however.

There's no active spellwork keeping the girl turned faerie as she is. She's not bound to the material plane like a ghost might be. She's a thing of partly flesh and partly gossamer, existing in a state between material and oneirial. She doesn't truly belong in either the Waking World, nor in the Dreamlands. But that's par for course when it comes to faeries. A banishing spell would do little; she has no real 'home' plane. She has no 'immortal soul' to send on to any afterlife, this much is made abundantly clear by all the various stories regarding fae. Destroying her would simply drag her core consciousness to the Dreamheart to be molded into something new.

The fox sighs, it doesn't look like anything short of a wish would undo whatever harm has befallen this child, and he's not sure that he wants to expend THAT much energy when there was still more work to be done, balance or no balance. He ponders it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of meddling with the forces of nature at work here to restore this child...

(About how well would a wish spell go over? :D)

[BladeofObliviom]

Spoiler

Show

SomeStreet - Alley

"And what if I just 'sprung fully-formed into being'?" Just ebcause that really is the story behind all things. At least it's the way she can remember it.
"As I said, It's not me who lost an eye. I just take them for those who can't. That's quiet noble don't you think?"
A moment of silence.
"And what's your story? What do you want to get from this talking? A reason for you to kill me or maybe join me?"

SomeStreet - Alley

The ghoul balks. If she'd had a cigarette, it would have fallen right out of her mouth. "Y'mean to tell me you were always the real Slim Shady over here, mutterin' about vengeance in dark alleys? Not a shadow who lost your human 'r something? No one did anything to you to get'cha on that revenge kick of yours?" She shakes her head. "Magic sure is weird."

She shrugs. "I can tell you a few things. Might as well pull up a chair, I've been around a while. Name's Delores, howdy. Usually that's the first thing I say but this is a bit of an odd situation. My face wasn't always like this", she says while pinching a sallow bit of flesh. "Used to be a normal human before a nice bath in radioactive fire." She is implying nuclear war! That doesn't sound nice at all! "But the Wasteland wasn't done with me, so instead of dying proper I got all ghoul-y. Never seemed to age out, either. Been all over, taken my fair share of eyes for things. I figured out a long time ago that anyone I could really blame for the war was already dead, and eventually I let go. Just...pointless, y'know?"

Delores shakes her head again with a faint expression that might be a sort of smile. It's sort of hard to tell with ghouls: They barely even have lips. "And really? I was wondering what made you tick. I had a stint as a vigilante a couple of decades after the bombs, y'see. No magic powers to fry men where they stand, but I'm a good shot, and pretty damn hard to kill. Funny thing though, it was never really satisfying, and in the long run I wasn't helping anyone. Oh sure, maybe I saved an unlucky bystander here and there. But the little town of New Goleta lived in fear of the Corpse stalking the streets." That expression was probably a frown. "Fact is, I may have been taking it out on criminals and scum, but I was angry at the world and needed an outlet. People picked up on that, and when the Rotten Lady strolled out through the morning mists, the bystanders feared for their lives just as much as the bastards did."

Sound familiar at all?

"And I never even attacked any children."

[Deathkeeper]

Down the Rabbit Hole

Half an hour later, just before Jessica's appointment starts, Arty hurries out of the hotel, looking a bit disheveled. What a horrible day. Cursed with a monthly doom over his head, and confused, he does his best to stay positive, but that's rather difficult with the strange hunger, like a whole different self, chewing at his insides, even subdued as it is now. Would he become that other person, whatever he or she or it is, if he fails to fulfill his new purpose for too long? The "centaur" frowns as he leaves, trying his best to work out what to do. This is certainly one of the most extreme situations he's been put in before by a higher being. He wishes Libra could have chosen something else. Or at least not something so needy. And if she hadn't un-made Larty, he would punch her square on the jaw for this.
[closed scene for the moment]

[Murkus]

[Café]

"I need to sing or play music to do magic," Brinika says. "Probably because I've always liked music. Usually I play my drums, but I don't have them with me now."

"Oh, that's good. I never had any clue what a fair fight is or isn't." Iknika rests her chin on her hand thoughtfully. "I've thought about learning magic, but never about being a knight. Would I wear armour? Swing a sword? Or an axe? There are soldiers down in the colony who wear thick armour and have really long axes. Not sure who I'd fight for, though."

[Cafe]

"Armor is certainly a boon. It can be a beauty or a terror to look upon, but the greatest knights have no need of it. I hear tell that is so. Of course, this is told by the same people who believe the greatest knight is a retired one, or a simple beggar with a blade," Eschelle says, the corner of her mouth turned up in a smile. "You can swing whatever you like, dear heart! I find you shouldn't decide until you feel a few of them in your hands. Feel the heft, and the weight, you know. That's how I decided."

Edrick is only further enthused. He clenches his fists and looks excited! "Oh, do you think maybe I could see you play your drums sometime? I'd really like that. I never get tired of seeing magic."

[Morty]

[Café]

"If I'm going to get close enough to someone to swing a sword or axe at them, I'd rather wear armour," Iknika says. "Do you know where I could try it out?"

Brinika's ears twitch.

"I guess so. I live in the Underside Colony, but I visit GLoG a lot. Have you ever been there?"

[Ionbound]

[Plothook Elementary School]

The wrestler might not get a chance to close in on Melissa. Wenomir moves like ice on hot metal, suddenly interposing himself between her and the werewolf. The warrior tries to shoulder-slam him with great force, and follow it up with a lightning-quick down-stroke of his sword. Like it did when he fought the buggane, it will pass through the wrestler and inflict weakness in its wake, rather than deal lethal wounds. The weakness is proportional to the injury that would have been caused if the attack was lethal - and it would be very lethal.

The were-wrestler growls as he's slammed, but rolls out of the way of the sword stroke. He angrily growls, as he starts to carefully circle Wenomir, "That's how it is? You'd kill me to protect that lying monster? I see. Well...I suppose I'll have to deal with you then..." He circles around, trying to get between Wenomir and Melissa, in position to pounce on the newly minted Cait Sith.

[deleteman900]

The were-wrestler growls as he's slammed, but rolls out of the way of the sword stroke. He angrily growls, as he starts to carefully circle Wenomir, "That's how it is? You'd kill me to protect that lying monster? I see. Well...I suppose I'll have to deal with you then..." He circles around, trying to get between Wenomir and Melissa, in position to pounce on the newly minted Cait Sith.

The kitsune grows tired of deliberation, and decides that no matter if it was possible to undo whatever had been done to Melissa, the fact remained that her existence was unnatural, and by the very act of existing, she was interfering with the way things always had been, always were, and always would be. The most direct approach to correcting this wrinkle in the scales of fate was to manually correct the oversight of her continued existence. To this end, he held out his hand, palm down, and a large, spectral hand made of telekinetic energy appeared above the cait sith, mirroring the positioning of his hand, palm down. He staid his hand for the moment, but it would only take a sharp, swift movement to turn her into a stain on the grass at best. The hand would likely escape notice for now, due to being transparent, and some 20 or 30 feet above their heads.

[Rebonack]

[Plothook Elementary School]

"I'm not lying!" Melissa yells. "I swore an oath and everything! You're just a jerk!" She moves to keep Wenomir between herself and the wrestlerwolf, not trusting her chances in a physical confrontation at all. She's staying as close as she can to the warrior, knowing full well that he's her best chance of survival. Spectral flames begin licking across her fingers as she readies herself to fight back if it comes down to it. She doesn't show any signs of noticing Bigby's Smooshing Hand just yet, however.

Of course, leave it to cats to notice things that others don't.

Whether she does notice it?

Well.

That remains to be seen.

[deleteman900]

[Plothook Elementary School]

"I'm not lying!" Melissa yells. "I swore an oath and everything! You're just a jerk!" She moves to keep Wenomir between herself and the wrestlerwolf, not trusting her chances in a physical confrontation at all. She's staying as close as she can to the warrior, knowing full well that he's her best chance of survival. Spectral flames begin licking across her fingers as she readies herself to fight back if it comes down to it. She doesn't show any signs of noticing Bigby's Smooshing Hand just yet, however.

Of course, leave it to cats to notice things that others don't.

Whether she does notice it?

Well.

That remains to be seen.

The hand is brought down, attempting to surround her like you might a cricket you're trying to catch. The idea is to cup the hand and bring it down around her such that her movement is restricted, and any attempts to escape are foiled. This does have the unintended side effect of trapping Wenomir as well as tje were-wrestler if it works, given their proximity, which would appear to be the only thing preventing the kitsune mage from simply smooshing the undead woman, though like any good mage, he has more than a few backup plans to work around this setback.

(I think I have to wait here and give folks a chance to react, ;p)

[Morty]

[Plothook Elementary School]

"I won't kill you," Wenomir says, as he bars the werewolf's way yet again. This time, he doesn't strike, but simply places his sword in a defensive position. "You know this sword can strike to stun. But I will not let you kill her. Just leave. You don't want to fight me."

Then, a telekinetic hand comes down. Wenomir growls, and his sword lashes out in a complex series of curves. They combine his martial training, iron-clad willpower and the immense power of the weapon to cut through and disperse the magic. Wenomir's quite skilled in countering spells.

[Lord Magtok]

An Abandoned MagMart*

This is a story of a Magbot named Magbot 427. Magbot 427 worked for a company named MagMart, where he was second shift janitor #B2-7. Second shift janitor #B27 was simple; he dragged a mop and bucket across the store, and he cleaned up spills. Orders came to 427 from a bossy cyborg named Magtok, telling him which aisles to clean, how long to spend cleaning them, and what kind of consequences there would be if he forgot to put up a wet floor sign. This is what Magbot 427 did of every day, of every month, of every year, and although others might've considered it monotonous and soul-rending, Magbot 427 was a stupid robot, and relished every moment of his career, as though he had been made exactly for this job. Magbot 427...was happy.

Then one day, something very peculiar happened. Something that would forever change Magbot 427, something that he would never quite escape. He had been mopping the floors for around twenty months, when he had realized that within that time frame, not one single order had been issued by Lord Magtok. Not one clone had chided him for forgetting the wet floor signs, pretended to care about his day, or had even said hi. Never had all of his years in the company had this happened, this complete isolation. Something was very clearly wrong, and it had taken the chrome-plated clod somewhere around six hundred days to finally notice. Shocked, frozen solid, 427 found himself unable to move for the longest time, but as he came to his wits and regained his senses, he put down his mop, and stepped out of the MagMart.

[Ionbound]

[Plothook Elementary School]

The werewolf growls back, "I don't want to fight you. But if you let her go, she'll do this again, at some other place. It's bad enough I couldn't finish off the one that started this. But I'm not letting another one of those monsters out into the world. Not if I can stop it."

As the hand comes down, he uses the opening of Wenomir trying to counter the spell to lunge at Melissa once again, this time caring less about speed and more about the certainly of her death, swiping at her throat with his claws.

[Rebonack]

[Plothook Elementary School]

Melissa reacts with cat-like reflexes!

Which... well... really shouldn't be much of a shock at this point.

Since she's a cat.

She leaps into a diving roll perpendicular to the werewolf's lunge, leaving a flickering after-image of moonlight behind. Should the werewolf plow into the double, he'll find that it sticks with all the tenacity of a spider web. That's also on fire. The gossamer threads wielded by cat sith are rarely fun to get wrapped up in. Iron would shear through them, of course, but claws and teeth will find them tough as steel cords.

"I already said I don't want to play Asriel's stupid game!" Melissa yells, her childish voice mixed with the yowl of an enraged feline. Seems she's quite dead-set on that particular point.

No plans on eating anyone.

No plans to bow to the King of Cats.

[deleteman900]

[Plothook Elementary School]

"I won't kill you," Wenomir says, as he bars the werewolf's way yet again. This time, he doesn't strike, but simply places his sword in a defensive position. "You know this sword can strike to stun. But I will not let you kill her. Just leave. You don't want to fight me."

Then, a telekinetic hand comes down. Wenomir growls, and his sword lashes out in a complex series of curves. They combine his martial training, iron-clad willpower and the immense power of the weapon to cut through and disperse the magic. Wenomir's quite skilled in countering spells.

The hand seemed to be dispersed for a scant heartbeat, before it turned into a cloud of electricity that attempted to course into and through Wenomir's blade, and into the swordsman himself. Being a kitsune mage, he excelled in magic that was somewhat trickier than your typical 'I cast fireball!' variety.

The mage himself was already working on tagging the Cait Sidhe with an arcane mark as a means of tracking it surreptitiously, and identifying it in case it tried to take a disguise the mage was unfamiliar with. He definitely didn't appear to be taking any overtly hostile actions, excepting the static discharge Wenomir was targeted by, and that wasn't even really targeted at him in particular, it was designed more as a non-lethal deterrent to prevent the Cait Sidhe from somehow getting past or destroying the hand and attempting to flee. His priority at the moment certainly seemed to be detaining the newborn fae without harming it unduly.

[Morty]

[Plothook Elementary School]

Wenomir's eyes widen when the Answer crackles with electricity. But the static charge will find it slow going to travel up the artifact weapon. The warrior has more than enough time to execute a manoeuvre he had in mind.

Seeing that the werewolf is targeted by some magic of Melissa's, he decides to tackle the other target that seems to have presented itself. Trailing a line of static electricity behind him, he's at the kitsune in a blink. The Answer slices the air, and an upwards strike as fast as a thunder strike tries to cut through the wizard and deliver the static charge to him. But the blade itself will do non-lethal damage, much like he tried to do with the wrestler.

[Lord Magtok]

Just Outside of an Abandoned MagMart

Magbot 427 had only taken two steps out of the retail chain where he spent all his days mopping and cleaning and putting up wet floor signs, and yet, he already felt hopelessly lost. Even amongst Magbots, 427 was never very clever, never especially creative or inquisitive. When other Magbots took vacation days or asked to spend their breaks wandering the wondrous city all around them, 427 would instead sit in his charger, basking in the peace and comfort that such a simple, banal existence could provide.

"Hell...hello? Sir? I don't mean to be a bother, but I think my yearly maintenance check may be past overdue. Sir?" 427 looked left, and then he looked right. He looked up, down, and then spun around and looked back into the MagMart. No, there was no sign of his employer, creator, and master anywhere. Not one Magtok clone in sight! If they weren't in the store, and they weren't harassing passerby outside of the store, where could they be? A cursory examination of his woefully bugged memory banks suggests several locales with Magtok-having potential. There's the MagCave, of course, but it's probably still under siege by that Riv guy and his army. Certainly no place for a mop-bot. There's VIGIL, but with all those demons invading, they wouldn't have time to answer his questions. MERC might have answers, but Krait is supposed to be undercover, so we should probably bother someone else.

"Hrm...AMEN?" AMEN works, definitely! I'm sure Magtok couldn't possibly have had any sort of messy drama with an organization where he himself was a founding member! There's certainly no reason to believe anyone in AMEN would ever pick on a lost, wayward minion! Let's go there, I'm sure we'll find answers in the good ol' Association of the Malicious, Evil, and Nefarious!

[Murkus]

[Café]

"If I'm going to get close enough to someone to swing a sword or axe at them, I'd rather wear armour," Iknika says. "Do you know where I could try it out?"

Brinika's ears twitch.

"I guess so. I live in the Underside Colony, but I visit GLoG a lot. Have you ever been there?"

[Café]

"Why, yes. I could bring you my own training armor some evening, if you wish it," Eschelle says. "I might have been about your size when I was your age. I'll tailor it down if needed."

"No, little miss," Edrick says, shaking his head. "What is GLoG?"

[Ionbound]

[Plothook Elementary School]

The werewolf yelps and whimpers as he's caught in the burning web, shrinking down back to human form to try to escape the painful web of gossamer. If that's successful, he'll take a deep breath and gather himself, healing as he starts to make a new plan.

[Morty]

[Café]

Iknika tilts her head.

"Really? You don't look like you were ever goblin-sized."

"It's a camp near a lake where they help people," Brinika explains. "My aunt works there. I lived there with her for a while, and now I visit often."

[Murkus]

[Cafe]

"I told you! I was very small. Though I was perhaps a bit younger than you are now, when I was asked to fit for my first set? I'm not quire sure. I'm an old lady now, you know," Eschelle says with a chortle.

"Sounds fancy. Do you get to swim and everything?" Edrick asks in his polite, posh manner.

[Shadowcaller]

Down the Rabbit Hole

Half an hour later, just before Jessica's appointment starts, Arty hurries out of the hotel, looking a bit disheveled. What a horrible day. Cursed with a monthly doom over his head, and confused, he does his best to stay positive, but that's rather difficult with the strange hunger, like a whole different self, chewing at his insides, even subdued as it is now. Would he become that other person, whatever he or she or it is, if he fails to fulfill his new purpose for too long? The "centaur" frowns as he leaves, trying his best to work out what to do. This is certainly one of the most extreme situations he's been put in before by a higher being. He wishes Libra could have chosen something else. Or at least not something so needy. And if she hadn't un-made Larty, he would punch her square on the jaw for this.
[closed scene for the moment]

Down the Rabbit Hole

Arty will feel a sudden weight on his back. "Were you thinking about little me?" A familiar voice asks with a giggle. "That's so sweet of you, Arty! I'm glad!" If Arty looks, he will find Libra sitting on his back, dressed in yet another outlandish costume.

"Hiya!" She waves excitedly at him.

[Deathkeeper]

Down the Rabbit Hole

Arty gives a small start, and for a moment is so torn between being surprised, happy, and furious that he momentarily forgets to be insulted about having her sit on him.
"Libra before we go on any further I must beg you to remove this terrible hunger from me! I don't want to drop dead of prudishness, and that's not even questioning the other horribleness you've forced me into. I'd gladly be whatever your second idea was. Or something else. I simply don't think I could be happy like this." he pleads with her.
Who would have guessed that giving someone a deadline to live based on something more complicated than eating wouldn't go over well?

[Morty]

[Café]

Iknika smiles a bit.

"Well, it's worth a try, isn't it? I kind of like the idea. No goblins has ever been a knight. Or at least, not that I've heard."

"I've learned how to swim, but I don't do it much. Water's a bit... I don't know. Scary," Brinika says, her ears twitching. "It's like being in the air, but more... floaty."

[Rebonack]

[Plothook Elementary School]

Melissa springs back to her feet, turning to face the wrestler but pausing her counter-attack. In fact, she disperses the burning webs all on her own. "You know how Oaths work, right? A faerie can't break the Oath. And you heard me swear it, so I can't be lying. I'm not working for Asriel and I'm not going to eat anyone. It's rude."

Very true.

Most cait sith are polite enough to wait for someone to die naturally before stealing their soul to create a new faerie with it.

Asriel is just a giant jerkface.

[deleteman900]

[Plothook Elementary School]

Wenomir's eyes widen when the Answer crackles with electricity. But the static charge will find it slow going to travel up the artifact weapon. The warrior has more than enough time to execute a manoeuvre he had in mind.

Seeing that the werewolf is targeted by some magic of Melissa's, he decides to tackle the other target that seems to have presented itself. Trailing a line of static electricity behind him, he's at the kitsune in a blink. The Answer slices the air, and an upwards strike as fast as a thunder strike tries to cut through the wizard and deliver the static charge to him. But the blade itself will do non-lethal damage, much like he tried to do with the wrestler.

The kitsune is caught near completely off guard, and scrambles to move out of the way, though nowhere near as quickly as Wenomir is moving. Thankfully, clicking the heels on a pair of boots he wore under the long, flowing robes was the only thing necessary to relocate 5 feet away, with a sharp 'POP!' noise and a cascade of sparks from underneath the robe. The exact mechanism of the boots wasn't apparent, but from the puffs of smoke that escaped from the neck and sleeves of the fox's robes, it didn't seem to be a trick that could be repeated.

The mage was annoyed, to say the least, and attempted to move the fighter sideways through space, for lack of a better word, making him forcefully move some distance aways (In the neighborhood of 100 feet if it works, would be more on a weaker target, ;p) and hopefully create some distance to not get the stuffing beat out of him by the swordsman.

[Green Elf]

[Vyrn Street] Luvon doesn't respond.

[Morty]

[Plothook Elementary School]

Wenomir is caught by the displacement spell, and seems to twist his body around it in a way that defies physics. He flows around the magical energy like water displaced by a fast-swimming fish, and as a result, he's thrown a fair deal closer than the kitsune probably hoped.

He lands about 30 feet away, thrusts his sword into the ground, then lets go of it. The static charge is absorbed into the ground, at which point the swordsman grabs it again and charges. He comes at the wizard with frightful speed, but the fox-man did gain valuable time.

[Shadowcaller]

Steve picks up a ghoul corpse and says "Tell me where you want me to put these and what you want me to do with them." He then says to Ambrosia "Are we still going to look for Geneva? Or has our objective changed once more?" He then turns to the elf and says "My full name is Sir Steven Lightblade, the Just. However, I preferred to be called Streve, pleased to meet you."

[Vyrn Street]

"Personally, I'm not sure we'll have much luck in finding Geneva, Steve." Ambrosia replies. "As a scholar, I'm more inclined to find out more about these attackers rather than trying to find one person that apparently doesn't want to be found." She argues before turning to the ranger. "What about you? What sort of business do you have in town?"

Down the Rabbit Hole

"Sorry, Arty. No can do." Libra replies as she jumps off him. "You haven't even seen what this new form can do! You've just seen the negative parts! It's not like I can make you into something and then just take away the downsides. That'd be so lame!" Libra insists.

[Ionbound]

[Plothook Elementary School]

The wrestler glares at Melissa, but sighs, at this point sick of fighting, and says, "You really want me to trust you? Swear that you won't turn anyone, ever, into a faerie. And that you won't try to get around it via proxies or other loopholes."

[Deathkeeper]

Down the Rabbit Hole

Arty doesn't seem swayed. In fact he seems pretty angry.
"And if that's the case, I'll have my old self back please, or anything else, because I don't care if this form actually made me a god, I'm not living with those downsides."