[Nexus] Inside 46

[Lord Magtok]

Red Zone - Slums

"Dig. I'll keep watch from here. And tell me if anything comes up, don't just go off doing your own thing like you do sometimes. We all still remember the cat incident, Needs."

HazMag, leader by default and glorified paramilitary thug of the MagCave's trusted Mystery Meat team, sighs. This is absolutely ridiculous now. There was a time when his team's name actually made sense. Back when the cave was loaded with forgotten experiments, half-starved cyborg monstrosities, and hazardous waste that had accidentally slipped the records, nobody ever had any idea what they might face, and this job actually meant something. The Magtoks would never admit it, but Haz knew his job was vital, that without his group's service, the MagCave, and maybe even the Nexus itself, would just collapse under the weight of all those deadly abominations Mag regularly and quite foolishly left sitting around to collect dust.

Now? He's doing mundane mercenary work in foreign wars, guarding the emergency rescue of a dead woman, and collecting technical information for interns, of all people. This work is beneath his talents, beneath his expertise, and even literally beneath him. This is positively motherfudging ridiculous, man.

"She wouldn't die, even if you killed her."

Speaking of ridiculous, that's the other squadmate called in for this task and the MagCave's resident wizard speaking, Needs Food Badly. He doesn't seem too bothered by the trash, but then, he's the type who'd probably be rolling around in it if the decision were up to him. His dirty yellow robe, splotched with just about every kind of stain imaginable, and six that aren't, billows about behind him as his cyborgy left hand makes all manner of freaky eldritch gestures.

"Yeah, whatever. Just get the girl out and alive already, before someone tries to give us trouble, will you? If we get in a fight, and you explode someone's head and Remnant finds out Mag's got a wizard clone, we'll never hear the end of it."

Haz shakes his head, not even turning around as heap after heap of the trash twists and turns into piles of amphibians, which then get flung every which way to make room for Kale's rescue. Turning things into frogs is easily one of the least freaky of NFB's powers, though. HazMag's seen more than enough of those weirder ones, so it's no surprise that magical trash frogs don't even faze him anymore.

[Jacklu]

[Red Zone - Slums]

Dig dig dig. The search isn't turning up any results. The signal is definitely coming from somewhere in the alley, but where? Strange, it seems to be coming from right smack in the middle, with nothing around. One of the team might notice a rat or two scurrying underneath a loose cobblestone. More than a few, actually. They stagger their entry and exits, but there is a steady traffic of rats and other vermin coming and going under the stone.

[Chaotic Bob]

Spoiler

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[Blacklight Street]

Ibby could smell her before he ever saw her.

Like a clear night, the sky freshened by recent rain. And... faintly of cheese? Something else, too. Something subtly like the thing that took Twilight. But weak. Faint. Lingering. It still makes Ibby nervous none the less.

This one probably isn't the sun goddess. Not the teacher of Twilight. But her sibling. What was her name again?

"You're... Princess Luna?" the hippogriff inquires, his tone both hesitant and hopeful.

He doesn't bow, though. If anything he draws even more upright and alert. Relations between his kind and godlings are rarely smooth to say the least. Even if she's a friend of Twilight's he's still cautious.

[Blacklight District]

Ibby's question is met with a harsh gaze.
"Rarely smooth".
Luna's opinion of the chimera is apparently sitting in the negative somewhere, already.
"You are its...child."
She seems to briefly struggle on the world "child", restraining the urge to either call him something else, or simply unable to find the term she deems a more accurate fit.

Her eyes darken slightly more, as she looks to the wall that the friendship ribbons stretch to, sealed by magic.
No comment is made, yet, as she turns to Rarity instead.

"Princess! Something absolutely dreadful has happened!"
"Calm yourself and rise, Rarity. Explain what has happened."

Rarity carefully stands up, glancing between Ibby and Luna for a moment.
"There's something awful tormenting Twilight. I'm not really sure what it is, but I think Ibby understands things a little better."

Light Street

"What is it? Who is your friend?" Teq demands, still entirely in the dark. He's considering the merits of simply arresting her and sorting this whole thing out at Remnant HQ. On the other hand, the young... pony seems to be just as confused as they are, in some respects. Oh well.

Teq might be making Dash sort of nervous. Something about him seems a little more dangerous than Missy, and not in the combative way.
Can't quite put her hoof on it.
"I'm not really sure what 'it' is either. The wiggly thing, I guess? Um, my friend is Twilight. She's an eg...purple. Very purple."
Now is not the time for light-hearted jabs.

[Rebonack]

[Blacklight Street]

Ibby wriggles somewhat uncomfortably under the princess' gaze.

She's bigger than he is. By quite a bit. And not in the physical sense. See, Far critters have an innate feel for how powerful other beings are. To tell if they're food, competition, or predator. And the aberrant hippogriff can tell easily enough that Luna eclipses him without trouble.

The fact that his uncanny defenses are still ruined by the effects of the Eye makes him feel even more vulnerable.

Then Rarity defers to him! That must mean that it is story time.

"Okay... well... Twilight teleported. We needed to get out of Trog's quickly because standard Nexus shenanigans were terrorizing Fluttershy. But there was something wrong with the spell. For a brief moment we passed through the domain of the creature that has twisted Twilight. I think it must have somehow re-routed Twilight's magic to draw on its power and tighten its grip on her."

Yay story time!

"I didn't realize what had happened at first. It was only later that I put the pieces together and I've been trying to remove the thing's taint from my friend since then. But it has been... difficult..."

To say the least.

"I have an idea for a spell though! One powered by the Friendship of those closest to Twilight. I'm sure something like that would wash that monster's taint from her. But... I sorta have to make the spell from scratch. I'm pretty good with magic-theory and spellcraft, but this would have to go perfectly. And... and I'm worried I might do something wrong..."

Followed by a glimmer of hope as he looks up at the alicorn. "But you can help Twilight, right? This... this thing is from your world. Or at least from your reality. So you know how to deal with it, right?"

The Doctor would probably be quite curious about Amil's mutterings. Probably have a lot of speculation to spout at the nearest person with ears. Luckily for everyone, he's distracted by two things. The first is, quite practically, the distressingly fast pirate ship. The second is Victoria.

"Absolutely not!" he yells back. "You keep that screwdriver firmly in your hand young lady! It's chasing you, you have wings and inertia is a thing that exists! Use your head!"

[The Park]

And now is an excellent time to go "BWAH!" and start flailing around.

Or possibly a terrible time to go bwah and start flailing around depending on one's point of view.

Hopefully all that flailing doesn't cause any problems.

[Shadowcaller]

[Girl's Night Out!]

Sakura shrugs. "That's my best guess. It made more sense when I was still pregnant with her. Maybe I wouldn't have had to by now if we weren't having another baby though."

[The poor knight]

Alfred's eyes widen and his grin grows even bigger. "Sir Correl? Sir Correl!" He runs to the knight as his mother tries to keep up. "Mother! This is the knight I told you about!"

"Who you met in... that forest?" she asks, a little apprehensively.

"Uh-huh! It's been a long time Sir Correl! When did you become a man again?"

"A-again?" she asks. She looks Correl up and down for a moment. She's long since been wary of anything from that forest.

((So I'm going to split this up into two scenes with plotclones. The first one would be earlier before that spirit suddenly attacks the poor knight.))

[The Poor Knight]

"Yes, madame. It was quite an adventure all in it's own." The knight says as he get's up from the table, making a curt nod in the direction of Alfred's parents. "You see, I was cursed by an witch and your son helped me free myself from the vile enchantment. Quite an achievement for someone his age if I may say so."

As Correl eats, a young girl with blue skin comes flying over towards him at high speeds. Barely a sound registers as she leaps through the air and attempts to press her hands onto Correl's shoulders, and a change will come over him.

He should remember the sensation from the time when he was a woman. The difference is, however, this time he's keeping his gender. He will still be a man, but have the hips, face, and hands of a woman.

And then the kami will go giggling gleefully off into the street, disrupting traffic. Kate should have no trouble seeing the whole thing.

[The Poor Knight - Later]

Correl is actually busy writing a letter as the strange entity comes flying towards him.

Dear Lady Sajuin
I have arrived at a very interesting world which seem to be a crossroad of many dimensions with an collection of strange an wondrous beings all gathered within. For instance I met a strange witch-creature who put a spell on my terrestial form. I was turned into a lady, my form becoming unfit for the armor my father gave me. Quite an predicament I must say and a story I rather not hear coming from one of your chambermaids at court. This must be between you and me

It's at this point the letter is interrupted by the mischievous spirit as the knight only again feels himself shrink slightly. Well, this would't do.

Drawing his from from the scabbard he turns to face the being. "Is it you witch? Don't think you can deceive by pretending to be something else."

[Lost_Deep]

The Poor Knight - Later

Kate walks down the street just in time to see the Kami head into traffic. Crud... she watches it for a moment, seeing what it will do next...

She doesn't really notice Correl yet.

[OrchestraHc]

The Poor Knight-Timeline 1

"He did?" Alfred's mother asks, her voice somewhere between surprised and impressed.

"Oh no," Alfred embarrassedly protests. "I wasn't near so much help. I went along with him and the girl, Sadei, for a while, but I wasn't there when he actually changed back. Even so," he says as he bows politely to the knight. "Thank you for the compliment." Raising his head, he fidgets with his hands, struggling to figure out how to ask what he wants to ask. "Sir Correl? Um... Since my mother is here, I was wondering... Could you- COULDYOUTALKTOHERABOUTLETTINGMEBEYOURSQUIRE!"

His mother didn't seem to register that borderline gibberish request, and looks to Correl for an answer.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Blacklight Street]

Ibby babbles a bit, whilst Luna studies the seal he placed on the wall.
An interesting spell, from an academic view. Twilight would probably appreciate it.

But not overly interesting from this present perspective and situation.
Just irritating.
"This entity's prior attentions led to war and the near collapse of a nation. It took over a thousand years to break its affliction."
This sounds incredibly grim, although that last part seems to imply a solution.

Rarity frowns at the mention of war. She never knew that...but then, as far as she can tell, Equestria has always been at peace.
The only mentions otherwise were Celestia's brief mention of overthrowing Discord and then...Nightmare Moon?
Thousand years...
"Oh..."

Luna glances down at Rarity, and her expression breaks faintly, a tinge of sadness.
"Twilight Sparkle was the solution. In part, at least.
I do not know your intentions or abilities, child, but I am unsure that your magic alone would come close to what is necessary."

A faint invitation to elaborate, perhaps.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Jacob Smith's House]

Krystal stands and returns the bow with a smile. Then she politely waits for Calvin to show her out.

[Lord Magtok]

Red Zone - Slums

"These ones seem to know what's going on."

The third member of the team stoops down, picks up a rat, and pokes it in the belly. He's not afraid of being bitten by the thing; he's dealt with far worse jaws than that of a teeny little gerbil before. His shoulders are almost half as wide as the average MagClone is tall, too. I mean, the muscular behemoth is just so big and intimidating, you wouldn't expect him to have any trouble with anything that isn't at least twice his size. Seriously, this clone guy is huge.

"Good eye, Roosevelt. Haz, redirect focus on the stones."

"She wouldn't die, even if you killed her..."

The superhuman and the sorcerer both set about moving the earth, intent on finding out just what is down there that the rats are finding so terribly interesting. It occurs to one of them that the presence of so many rats might be something worth reporting, especially given what happened to Pat that one time, but then again, this is the Red Zone. It'd be more suspicious if there weren't any swarms of rats back here.

[McBish]

[Jacob Smith's House]

Calvin leads her back to the front door and opens it up after looking through the peephole first.

"That went pretty well."

He seems a bit surprised.

[Lost_Deep]

[The Park]

And now is an excellent time to go "BWAH!" and start flailing around.

Or possibly a terrible time to go bwah and start flailing around depending on one's point of view.

Hopefully all that flailing doesn't cause any problems.

((missed this...))

The pirate ship steers away from Copi's tree! Yaay!

...seeing as the scene is going thata way, and Copi is not, she is dropping out of the scene until it comes back or something happens.

[Rebonack]

[Blacklight Street]

The seal makes extensive use of a rather unusual looking sigil of branching form. If Luna had bothered to look at the scroll Zee had given her she might recognize it. A sigil that embodies the very geometry of the divide between reality and what lies beyond.

Then there comes a bit of a sizzling, fraying sound like that of rending fabric moments before the Path of Friendship fails. Ibby makes an irritated grunt at the wall. "The spell isn't meant to track across planar boundaries. The Friendship powering it must be incredible for it to have lasted that long..."

Luna speaks!

Of wars.

And taint. And cleansing. And passing ages.

"Well... what about the Elements of Harmony then?" Ibby suggests. "From what little Twilight has told me about them they're a powerful set of artifacts meant to channel Friendship to miraculous effect. I'm sure they would be able to replicate the spell I've been working on."

His eyes drift back toward the seal he had made. "But... she also told me that you need six friends to use them. And we're sort of missing one of them right now..."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Jacob Smith's House]

Krystal smiles. What can I say? I'm easy to get along with.

Well, make sure you two stay out of trouble. And don't hesitate to contact me if you need help.

[McBish]

[Jacob Smith's House]

"Yeah I'm sure that is it. And I don't know if you will believe this, but someone told me to stay out of trouble right before all this happened."

Calvin grins.

"Yeah, your at GLoG in case of trouble. I will try to remember that."

[Chaotic Bob]

[Blacklight Street]

Luna's troubled look persists and she silently stares at the seal for a few moments.
Pondering the collapse of the friendship spell, the seal, and the suggestion to use the Elements.
Pondering Ibby and his mother.
"Perhaps. This is not something to be discussed here, so near the hole. Although I would suspect it is aware of the dangers of Friendship, from a prior defeat."

Meanwhile, Rarity is looking faintly panicked.
"The spell failed. That doesn't mean...was Twilight's friendship broken?"
Like the Discord event? Corrupted their friendship so they couldn't properly stand against them, until Twilight fixed everyone's heads.

[Rebonack]

[Blacklight Street]

Ibby shifts uncomfortably once again, glancing back at the wall.

If Twilight pops up somewhere else in the Nexus how is he going to find her now? The only thing he can think of is to scry on her every now and again. Hopefully Rarity carries a nice supply of mirrors with her.

Otherwise he'll have to buy quite a few.

He offers Rarity a reassuring smile when she voices her concern. "No. The spell just isn't meant to find people on other planes. It can't reach her in that thing's domain. She's still fine. Or... well... as fine as she can be. All things considered..."

The hippogriff starts away from the wall, glancing back at the others. "I had laid down the path for everyone to follow and called Twilight's friends to meet us here. But now that path is gone. We need everyone together to make this work, right? And I'm sure we don't have much time. I would rather not leave my friend languishing in that thing's thrall for a thousand years if I can avoid it."

[Jacklu]

Red Zone - Slums

"These ones seem to know what's going on."

The third member of the team stoops down, picks up a rat, and pokes it in the belly. He's not afraid of being bitten by the thing; he's dealt with far worse jaws than that of a teeny little gerbil before. His shoulders are almost half as wide as the average MagClone is tall, too. I mean, the muscular behemoth is just so big and intimidating, you wouldn't expect him to have any trouble with anything that isn't at least twice his size. Seriously, this clone guy is huge.

"Good eye, Roosevelt. Haz, redirect focus on the stones."

"She wouldn't die, even if you killed her..."

The superhuman and the sorcerer both set about moving the earth, intent on finding out just what is down there that the rats are finding so terribly interesting. It occurs to one of them that the presence of so many rats might be something worth reporting, especially given what happened to Pat that one time, but then again, this is the Red Zone. It'd be more suspicious if there weren't any swarms of rats back here.

The rat squeaks and squirms to get away. Not much interesting about the rat.

The moment the rock is displaced... well, all the vermin in the alley start running for cover. At first it is hard to see why. Nothing under the cobblestone except for.... Well, nothing. Or, a grey something. Kinda nothing? Well, more like an empty something.

Not much time to care about that though, as the stone seemed to have been serving a structural role. And by that, I mean not long after it is removed, the surrounding stones come loose and fall into the nothing. More and more fall away, kinda like one of those "aah! the ground is collapsing!" scenes in movies. In fact, it is exactly like that. In less than a few secounds the entire alley will have fallen through into the nothing.

Anyone who fell through will find themselves dropping through the air for a surprisingly short time before landing. Their fall is broken by the squishy nature of the land they fall onto.

The scene before anyone who fell through is surreal and a little disgusting. For as far as they can see in any direction is rolling hills of refuse. More than trash, though. Included in the heaps of garbage are things like colossal temples, cottages half buried, a fleet of pirate ships on their sides, and on and on. Things move about the trash, creatures of ever kind darting from hiding place to hiding place, decrepit and diseased. Many of them look like they have weathered away in places, like statues in the desert, eched with time and sand.

And the signal is a lot stronger now. And coming from not far away, inside a huge monastery that is half buried and at a 45 degree angle, jutting from the side of a trash dune.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Blacklight Street]

Ibby's comfort almost works. Sort of. Until that last part.
Which mostly just makes Rarity cringe.
"We really must get her out of there. Maybe if we get everyone together, we can give chase..."

She's loathe to leave, but there doesn't seem much to do here, but move away.

Luna is slower to abandon the spot, continuing to eye the seal rather critically.
"I have instructed Rainbow Dash to inform the local military of the situation, in case they are needed. If others have not heeded your spell, then they must still be where they were last.
The cave of some psychotic metal monkey, if she is accurate."

A brief glow from her horn, and she begins to flap her wings.
"I have further business to attend to, and will meet you in their company."

[Lord Magtok]

Red Zone - Slums => Underslums?

HazMag kicks someone's moldy leftovers away from his foot, lifts up his left wrist, peers at a bunch of numbers and figures, and then points towards the monastery.

"That way."

Roosevelt follows quite dutifully, but Needs Food Badly has to be more or less dragged to their destination, hissing and spitting most of the way. I suppose this monastery wasn't dedicated to one of the many foul religions and otherworldly deities NFB follows with all of his jaundiced little heart. Or maybe he'd just rather chatter with the locals and poke around in the refuse in search of some awful slimes and caustic oozes he's never seen before. Honestly, this place must be like heaven to the awful little monster.

"Miss Elizabeth Kale, your rescue team has arrived! Stand by for evacuation!"

Oh brilliant, Roosevelt. Just announce your presence to the entire world, in case the whole falling out of the sky thing didn't make your group obvious enough. There's no reason to believe these awful vermin people aren't harmless, you know.

[Devixer]

[Red Zone]

The number of disappearances in the Red Zone have increased by an order of magnitude lately. Each day, another human (always a human,) is gone, never to be seen again. In addition, some have reportedly seen jet-black creatures lurking alleyways.

[Rebonack]

[Blacklight Street - Toward the MagCave?]

Luna is flying away!

Bye Luna!

"I know. I know we can't leave her in there. But going into that thing's domain would be suicidal," Ibby sighs. "Creatures like those... they're huge. Vast. Powerful. Incomprehensibly so. And that's even more true if you're facing them on their own turf. We wouldn't help Twilight at all by going after her and getting killed or worse. We need to wait for her to come back here first."

He gazes off at a mountain in the far distance.

"...I don't think I'm strong enough to fly us to the MagCave. We might have to wal-"

SUDDENLY RAVEN!

The nightmarish chimera looms over Ibby and Rarity, spreading her midnight wings like a vast shroud of inky darkness around them. The blackness closes in and envelopes them completely before shrinking away into nothing.

Well.

That was different.

[Jacklu]

[Junkyard of the Forgotten]

And boy do the locals have things to say. Mostly they welcome the team to the Forgotten. Some offer consolations about being abandoned or dropped. Others make snide remarks about their playability. A few ask for their possessions, as they won't be needing them anymore.

None give them any real hassle, though.

Their trek toward the monastery is a tough one, over a small mountain of Pogs and beta-max copies of Batman and Robin. They pass a few upside-down houses that used to be stores based on the colourful signs on the front.

They might also notice some familiar things moving through the junk. Minimags in all states of disrepair scurry in and out of piles, prying free bits of metal and machines and circuitry wherever they can find them before making their way across the terrain, heading for the now looming monastery.

"Don't forget your names."

The voice comes from a small hollow in the side of a hill, the opening framed by rusted shopping carts. A shriveled man crouches and shuffles into the light.

"I wrote mine on my arm so I wouldn't forget it."

He raises his arm, only there isn't one to show. It ends just past the shoulder. The end of the stump is brittle and grey, flaking and turning to dust slowly.

"If you don't remember your names, you fall to pieces faster."

[happyturtle]

The Sitar's Strings

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[The Sitar's Strings]

Maahir frowns. He's already told Brian much more than he usually would have. He's not usually this open. But... he just seems so trustworthy. Telling him a little bit more couldn't do any harm, right?

Maahir opens his mouth slightly, looking clearly lost. A little push in the right direction should have him spilling the beans, if Brian wishes, or he could just tell him it's his own business.

"Don't worry, son. I won't push you for your secrets if you don't feel ready to trust me with them," Starling says, his tone kind and fatherly.

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The Sitar's Strings

"Wow.. Cool down please." Just in case I don't think he acted respectleess he shared his opinion.

He turns to Maeve.

"I'm sorry miss, but where I'm from such marks are a sign of slavery. So It's not so far that I assumed you where an ex slave. I nkow people who would pay a lot of money for caught slaves. I appolopize for my offense, but I never saw a person dealing such things to his self. If you think you require a redemption from me I could offer you the service of a friend."

He heads over a business card reading about a Firework specialist named C4. He may be known ba her since he did a few fireworks here.

Seeing as the dispute between Maeve and Zefir seems settled, Jan moves away. If Maeve wants to accept the services of a fireworks specialist, that's her choice.

---

1

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Light Street

"What is it? Who is your friend?" Teq demands, still entirely in the dark. He's considering the merits of simply arresting her and sorting this whole thing out at Remnant HQ. On the other hand, the young... pony seems to be just as confused as they are, in some respects. Oh well.

Teq might be making Dash sort of nervous. Something about him seems a little more dangerous than Missy, and not in the combative way.
Can't quite put her hoof on it.
"I'm not really sure what 'it' is either. The wiggly thing, I guess? Um, my friend is Twilight. She's an eg...purple. Very purple."
Now is not the time for light-hearted jabs.

"Your friend may have been the thing's target?" Missy guesses. "Do you know where she is? I guess we need to find and decontaminate her."

[Mr. Moon]

Park

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[Park]

"Inertia is the problem!" Victoria shouts back, frustrated. She takes to the air again and cuts to the right, turning away from the Doctor. At the very least she could get the ship and engine away from him and the poor woman he was carrying. Despite the strange man's warnings, if the engine threatened to run her over, she was going to drop the screwdriver. She may have been more likely to hold on to it had he not spoken to her in such a patronizing way. Young lady, indeed!

This is hardly the time to get all uppity about manners! I'm sure the Doctor didn't mean to be patronizing. Perhaps he'll apologize when he isn't running from an exploding pirate ship.

However, flying up in the air and turning seems to be quite an effective tactic. The engines strain against the masts to track her movements - or rather, the sonic screwdriver. This puts the ship in a bit of conflict. All its energy and inertia says go forward, but now the engines are trying to force the energy the other way. Metal twists against burning metal with an ear-spliting shriek as momentum fights energy. The ship is still moving forward, but it's slowing rapidly. Soon enough, the Doctor is actually putting some distance between himself and the ship. Fractures and tears appear in the hull, metal plates bending and warping. The engines scream above the din, starting to over-heat in the atmosphere.

The TARDIS

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The TARDIS

"Go away mutt." The Captain says mildly irritated. He slices at the thing and turns his sword on at the same time, fully intending to leave the thing in two pieces of scrap that doesn't talk.

"negative" says the robot-dog. Its eye-panel lights up, charging some sort of laser-shot...
... that gets interrupted when the Captain slices the robot in two. Unfortunately, this results in a small explosion of stored energy. It'll probably do nasty things to the Captain's hand and weapon.

The two pieces of the robot-dog fall down to the ground with a clatter, leaving sparking circuitry exposed.

Redzone

[Red Zone]

The number of disappearances in the Red Zone have increased by an order of magnitude lately. Each day, another human (always a human,) is gone, never to be seen again. In addition, some have reportedly seen jet-black creatures lurking alleyways.

Well that certainly gets Ace's attention.

The self-appointed vigilante has been keeping an eye out for violence, especially against humans, since that Charlie cult left the warning up on Wall-Chan. He looks human enough, although in the Nexus appearances can be especially deceiving. His long, brown hair is pulled back in a tight braid, contained by a green and white patterned sleeve. His left arm still bears faded acid scars, left uncovered by his buttoned-up vest. A sleeve similar to the one holding his hair back covers his right arm.

Lately, Ace has been attempting to follow up on the rumours of creatures in the alleyways. Mostly by exploring the alleyways. He walks the back-streets of the Red Zone, ever-present deck of cards in hand.

[Ashen Lilies]

The Sitar's Strings

"Don't worry, son. I won't push you for your secrets if you don't feel ready to trust me with them," Starling says, his tone kind and fatherly.

[The Sitar's Strings

Maahir closes his mouth then, the insane man having not been taken advantage of by the deranged fanatic. Yay!

Silence.

[happyturtle]

The Sitar's Strings

"Unless you think I can help in some way," Starling adds.

He's not at all deranged! He's very sane in his fanaticism!

[Devixer]

[Red Zone]

Ace might occasionally hear very quick footsteps, or an argle argle noise as he makes his way through the alleyway. Whatever these creatures might be, they're watching him.

[Lord Magtok]

Junkyard of the Forgotten

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[Junkyard of the Forgotten]

And boy do the locals have things to say. Mostly they welcome the team to the Forgotten. Some offer consolations about being abandoned or dropped. Others make snide remarks about their playability. A few ask for their possessions, as they won't be needing them anymore.

None give them any real hassle, though.

Their trek toward the monastery is a tough one, over a small mountain of Pogs and beta-max copies of Batman and Robin. They pass a few upside-down houses that used to be stores based on the colourful signs on the front.

They might also notice some familiar things moving through the junk. Minimags in all states of disrepair scurry in and out of piles, prying free bits of metal and machines and circuitry wherever they can find them before making their way across the terrain, heading for the now looming monastery.

"Don't forget your names."

The voice comes from a small hollow in the side of a hill, the opening framed by rusted shopping carts. A shriveled man crouches and shuffles into the light.

"I wrote mine on my arm so I wouldn't forget it."

He raises his arm, only there isn't one to show. It ends just past the shoulder. The end of the stump is brittle and grey, flaking and turning to dust slowly.

"If you don't remember your names, you fall to pieces faster."

Roosevelt doesn't like this place. It probably has something to do with the fact that he very nearly ended up in the permadeadtimed bin not too long ago, before his player had some second thoughts. Not that Roosevelt would know anything about that, of course, but that subconscious feeling of familiarity here doesn't help with his unease one little bit.

"Keep going, and ignore the locals, unless they get too close, at which point I'll fire off a warning shot or two. I don't think I need to remind anyone that this is a a rush job, for more reasons than one."

Gods, this place is weird. Hopefully they won't have to stick around for much longer though, this is the sort of freaky, forgotten mystery worlds that Needs is around for, not the rest of the team.

[Reinholdt]

The TARDIS

"negative" says the robot-dog. Its eye-panel lights up, charging some sort of laser-shot...
... that gets interrupted when the Captain slices the robot in two. Unfortunately, this results in a small explosion of stored energy. It'll probably do nasty things to the Captain's hand and weapon.

The two pieces of the robot-dog fall down to the ground with a clatter, leaving sparking circuitry exposed.

The TARDIS

The Captain hisses in pain and draws his mangled hand back, dropping the useless weapon. "Why does everything have to explode?" So inefficient.

Still, with that obstacle dealt with, he moves on to the console to get this TARDIS up and moving. Though he is considerably slowed at this point with his hand being as it is.

Sitar's Strings

Well someone finally makes it out of deadtime. The bookish drow, Nadas, in his robes and spectacles arrives outside. He's carrying way too many books again too. It's a wonder he's not more muscled carrying those around all the time. He really should get a bag of holding or enchant one himself, but he's been neglecting his magic studies. At least this time one or two of his books actually pertain to magic as he hopes to pick that up again.

Anyways, it's been a long day at the library and he could use a place to take a break and get something to eat. This looks as good a choice as any. Without really reading any of the signs that he just presumes say no shoes, no shirt, no service, Nadas carefully heads in, fumbling at the door for a bit. Once in he goes up to where they seat people. "Table for one please."

Unless it's a seat yourself place. Then I suppose he'll go to seat himself.