[Nexus] That Day Has Come

[Lost_Deep]

Beckett's Clinic

Iriel nods and heads downstairs. She thinks a bit about what they are about to do: run across a city torn apart by horrible forces beyond mortal comprehension. Going to a chain store, because a robot on the television told them that was the best bet that they would survive. That they would be teleported to a cave, where they would try to survive and hope that the beasts would not find them. What would happen? Would they have to delve deep into the earth to avoid the terrors of the surface? Would their descendants become nomads, trying to find paths deeper and deeper into the planet to avoid the monsters coming after them? Or are the caves haunted by a beast that could destroy them? Could they construct a space ship to escape to the stars? Are even the stars safe?

Is anywhere safe?

Okay, no, the stars are not safe. You basically have to strap yourself to enough directed explosives to level several office buildings to even get there, and that is the safest part of the trip. The point, however, stands. How many of the horrors are there, and are any of them patrolling the spaces between the stars?

[Mindfreak]

MagMart
Elena bats his head away.
"Tirin, I'm not bleeding to death, it's my stomach acid that's eating into my insides."
She doesn't move as Sadei does what she does. She does remove her hand from her wound when she's done though, revealing a bullet hole no longer being there.
"Thanks kid."
She notices that Sadei doesn't look so good and the trail of blood.
"Dave, bring over a can of Aqua Cure."
Dave does so, though he still seems reasonably pissed.
Elena opens the canister and dabs her finger in it.
"Where did you get hurt? This will at least help the wound close faster."
It was true! It's also a real Umbrella Product!

[Mr. Moon]

((C'nor, would you please use the OOC thread for entirely OOC posts? Thanks.))

MagMart

Even as Sadie limps off, Allen makes his way deeper into the shopping mart, entering the maze of isles and displays. He walks with a swagger, chuckling to himself. The cowboy is quite pleased with himself. The five minutes had actually been fun, and not just the sarcastic 'fun' he had anticipated. He lifts a finger to rub at his face, flicking away a remaining tear of mirth...

... and stops dead.

Something just happened. In his head. His mouth falls open, but the only thing that comes out is a strangled grunt. It is like being hit with a tidal wave from behind while out in the desert. Huge and unexpected and barely comprehensible. Thoughts fly through his mind from out of nowhere. Some of them make no sense. Where's Jordy? One screams. I can't find my mummy, cries another. So many of them, calling out for people he doesn't know in tones he doesn't understand. Others are more practical - thousands of unspoken and very vocal concerns for his own safety. Voices cringing away from the massive gun firing at the door to MagMart. Others make him sick to his stomach. Voices obsessing over the health and safety of people around him. Sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives. They make him nauseous, disgusted, repulsed.

There is so much of it. There is a word for the sensation, but Allen has never felt the sensation to be able to connect the word to it.

Terror.

See, Allen is a psychopath. His brain is incapable of experiencing fear. Until Tirin forced the experience on him, the closest Allen's come to fear is vague and quickly dismissed caution. And now it is all crashing down on him, activating parts of his brain that have never seen use. So huge, so powerful, so overwhelming.

Allen has no way to cope. He falls to his knees, shaking all over. His hands form claws, flexing open and closing at thin air, as small, terrified noises gurgle at the back of his throat. Tears flow freely over his face, dripping down the left side and falling against the ground. His every muscle is tense, ready to bolt and run if anyone approaches, but at the same time paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of the terror.
[hr]

Inside

As Raven speaks, her brother looks up at her. His blue-bird eyes are wide and sharp, filled with love and admiration for his big sister. As she raises her kama, his eyes flick towards it, but he forces them back on her face. He presses his nose, cold and wet, against her hand, licking it in a tender kiss.
"I love you too, Raven."

And then the kama descends. Crimson blood splashes from the wound. The chimera's muscles tense, his grip on Raven's arm tightening. As she draws the weapon away, the chimera gives one final, pained gasp, before his eyes glaze over, and his body goes limp. His eyes stare forward, fixed with lifeless adoration on his sister.

[BladeofObliviom]

[Fightin' With the Tumor Beast]

He waded through the pus?

Oof... Not a wise course of action.

The gunk will harden at an alarming rate into a thick scab-like material very likely binding Jakob in place. As if that weren't bad enough it'll begin trying to eat through his armor and begin oozing over him. Should it make contact with his flesh there's a decent chance he's going to become a new tumor zombie in the near future.

[Fightin' With the Tumor Beast]

Yeah, I figured something like that would happen.

Jakob is physically strong to a degree that is absolutely unreasonable for a human being, largely because he's capable of channeling enough white and blue mana to reshape a small continent. Despite this, it'll take him a minute or two to force his way through this stuff.

On the bright side, his armor is made of Etherium (which doesn't corrode under any circumstances) and positively covered in embossed Elder Signs! After all, you aren't much of an Esperite if you can't control Etherium that's linked to you with barely a thought!

In summary, the pus is certainly going to slow him down. A lot. But at least it won't kill him! Yay!

[Rebonack]

[Tumor Beast Fight!]

So... it's magical metal made of magic? And metal? The protection of the Elder Sign should be sufficient to stop the armor from melting. That's a good thing. Because this stuff doesn't so much dissolve things as it exposes them to eons worth of entropy in a matter of moments.

Anywho, the fellow is slowed down.

Slowed down enough for the massive monster to simply lumber over and attempt to fall on him.

...

Wow.

If that works what a horrible way to die.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Parking Lot]

Tirin continues channeling the fear, and tries to do the same with any guilt that the refugees are feeling. He's not very forgiving, it seems.

[Rebonack]

[MagMart Parking Lot]

Wait...

Elena is trying to put Aqua Cure on Sadei?

The injured chimera recoils away from the ointment, giving a low gurgling hiss. "Keep that away from me. It smells wrong."

Where she's hurt should be relatively obvious. There are a number of fracture marks on her body that look almost like broken glass. Crimson blood mingled with what appears to be pearlecent white oil is seeping out of the wounds. The blood in her mouth suggests internal injuries. But it doesn't seem like she's going to allow the Aqua Cure to be applied to her.

[Mindfreak]

MagMart
Not that Aqua Cure!

Aqua Cure: Umbrella's crowning public achievement, Aqua Cure is an ointment used on open wounds that made the company famous worldwide. It is considered to be Umbrella's primary public product and is very effective.The t-virus is used on this product to re-accommodate the damaged cells, though no side-effect has been shown from this product.

"Look, you're wounded and we don't have any of our major medical equipment here and you obviously need some medical attention."

[Mr. Moon]

MagMart

A man can only take so much.

Even a normal man, who's experienced fear and terror and worry before, can only take so much of it at once. A man who's experienced enough fear to be completely dull to it has his limits. There's only so much that a brain can process before it shuts down.

By now, Allen's brain has fair surpassed that limit. As the surge of raw emotion rages through him, something deep inside Allen's mind quietly breaks.

The cowboy sits up suddenly, sucking in a sharp breath. He looks around himself, at the isles and products lining them, as if seeing them for the first time. He looks down at his hands, slowly unclenching them. The rest of his body eases from its tense state following this, relaxed but still alert. He reaches up, touching his fingers to his cheek and frowning at the salty wetness. As he stands, Allen rubs his face on the sleeve of his faded brown longcoat.

Looking around, Allen trudges forward, making his way through the isles towards the telewarping station.

[Zefir]

[Inside to MagMart]

And Andy will just follow.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Parking Lot]

Tirin stops channeling emotions, and gets a rather worried expression.

[Saurous]

MagFirmary

"Of course it was." Moon Called retorts to Magtok's retreating back, not wanting to let him have the last word despite herself.. "You round-ear types are all too busy standing terrified to go out and get your manicures chipped."

Once they're alone, Moon Called shifts her head to look at Saurous. She looks up at him for a few long moments, before nodding almost imperceptibly. "Well." She says. "I guess I get to stare at the ceiling for another exciting few minutes while you go get ready?"

Saurous gives a shrug of the shoulders. "I don't really have to go anywhere right this instant, if you're just in dire need of company. I could probably get most of my preparations done right here."

He produces one of the usual tomes, a dull grey affair appearing far older than his others, bound in some sort of decrepit leather and drawn from whatever storage space Saur normally holds these things when they're not in use. The worn, dessicated pages hiss and creak under his touch, their flexibility ruined by both age and overuse. The necromancer's crimson gaze flits from page to page as he flips between them, before eventually halting on particular page about halfway through. He gingerly turns the leaf over, inspecting the contents on both sides.

"We should be fine," he says, lowering the page. He holds the book out before him, making a sharp pointing motion at it with one hand. It remains in mid-air when Saur removes his hand from it. "There are just a few sigils that you need before we start operating."

He removes a pair of what appear to be fine paintbrushes from a pouch on his belt before waving down a Magbot. He requests a large tray, a pair of bowls, hot water, a metal band wide enough to fit around a typical arm, and a box of crackers.

[Lord Magtok]

MagMart - Interior

It's cold and dark in here. Whoever thought it was a good idea to turn off most of the lights to save power clearly didn't feel the air conditioning was as non-vital, and may or may not be a polar bear in disguise. It's like a cornfield maze in here, except there's only one claustrophobic path to follow, and it's full of canned ham and rotting bananas. There's a sign or two on the floor tiles, a test to see if those trying to enter can walk past such a thing without issue, and Magbots just behind those crude walls, waiting to open fire on anyone who can't make it through.

"I want you to know I don't condone what you've done, sir." A fairly well-known voice fills the icy chambers, as Magtok descends from the roof somewhere just beyond where Allen can see. "That said, beggars can't be choosers. Welcome to MagMart, have a nice day, and don't shoot anybody else unless you want your fingers cut off."

MagFirmary

The Magbot does as asked, but can't help but roll its eyes a little when Saur's back is turned. Bowls and hot water? Is this going to involve some archaic nonsense about the four humors? Well whatever, it's just a dim elf being treated. The filthy savages can borrow whatever they want for their pagan medical rituals, so long as it doesn't get in the way of real medical science later.

[Mr. Moon]

MagFirmary

"Oh, it's not that I need the company." Moon Called says, shrugging her good shoulder. "It's just that if you're here, I'm less likely to start breaking important medical equipment out of frustration." She pauses. "Okay, so maybe I need the company." Just a little.

As Saurous pours over his spell-book, Moon Called falls into a respectful silence, watching him quietly. The sound of him flipping through the pages is almost immediately relaxing. It brings back memories of quiet nights, watching Saurous and Maur study and read while she rested from a day of hard work.
At the thought of her son, though, a frown pulls at Moon Called's lips. She was going to have to have a conversation with Saur about him after this was all over. And it probably wasn't going to be a very pleasant talk.

She is pulled out of her thoughts by his voice, though, and Moon Called glances up at him. "Whenever you're ready, de-" She begins, before raising her eyebrow as the Magbot brings the tray of equipment in. "Crackers?"
[hr]

MagMart - Interior

Allen doesn't seem to mind the cold, although the heavy long coat probably helps quite a bit in that regard. He doesn't seem to mind the long walk nor the claustrophobic conditions. The rotting fruit is a bit of a novelty, though. The cowboy peers at it curiously, but does not stop or slow down. The elder signs in the floor don't even make him slow down - Allen strides past them, barely paying them a second look.

He doesn't glance up at Magtok's voice, but does nod when the cyborg is done speaking. "Understood." He says. There's something different about his voice. The folksy, back-water accent is gone. "I wouldn't expect you to."

[Rebonack]

And now come more horrible things.

[MagMart]

Sadei is just limping away toward MagMart. "I want nothing to do with your voodoo-magic zombie virus cream," the chimera grumbles as she heads off through the door. She, like any of her siblings, can pass the Elder Sign without issue. Though the Eye of Derleth will be given plenty of room. It makes her noticeably uncomfortable.

Aaaaand about this time Raven and several other survivors will be approaching! Hopefully they won't be shot at. That would be terrible.

[Inside]

Missy and Eddy will be meeting up... surprisingly enough with little difficulty. Many of the starspawn and Far-beasts seem to be vacating the city. Might have something to do with that huge tentacle descending out of the sky.

The tentacle that just had a huge explosion rip through it courtesy of a certain exploding air ship.

Florescent orange slime and mummified meat-chunks and a tentacle-piece the size of a mall are now descending toward Inside.

[Saurous]

MagFirmary

Saurous immediately sets to work upon receiving his requested materials, first starting with the box of crackers. He tears the container open, his expression tense, as he initiates a dark and mysterious ritual that most mortals would quake at the mere sight of!



And by that, I mean he's already stuffed about three of the things into his gob by the time Moon Called catches up. He looks up sheepishly, his mouth full of crumbs.

"What?" he asks, swallowing the wad of offending biscuits. "I haven't eaten anything since some time before I arrived at Magtok's little soiree. I thought crackers would be an inoffensive-enough snack."

He pauses for a few moments to get the rest of his equipment settled, before holding the end of the box out to Moon. "Would you like one?"

[BladeofObliviom]

[Tumor Beast Fight!]

So... it's magical metal made of magic? And metal? The protection of the Elder Sign should be sufficient to stop the armor from melting. That's a good thing. Because this stuff doesn't so much dissolve things as it exposes them to eons worth of entropy in a matter of moments.

Anywho, the fellow is slowed down.

Slowed down enough for the massive monster to simply lumber over and attempt to fall on him.

...

Wow.

If that works what a horrible way to die.

[Tumor Beast Fight!]

Oh dear. Yeah, that could do it. But will it?

Jakob's more powerful than most people who know him even understand, though. If you'll note, he hasn't even been using much mana for the past few posts. In fact, you could say he's been gathering it. *rimshot*

A flock of doves enormous beyond belief flies up out of nowhere, attempting to force the creature back while pecking at it and tearing bits out. While they likely will do very little damage overall, due to the aforementioned entropy pus, they should at least force the thing back enough to allow Jakob to escape the pus bindings.

[Mindfreak]

MagMart
"Tirin, why don't you look so good?"

[Lord Magtok]

MagMart - Interior

Soon enough, Allen will find his way to the stock room in the back of the store. It's rather barren now, if for no other reason than the vast majority of its contents are now sitting inside the MagCave. The floor is just cold cement, and the walls simply cheap plaster. One might get the feeling that they're not supposed to go back here, that this is where those mysterious doors led to, the ones marked 'BOILER ROOM' or 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' that you always used to wonder about as a kid. Unlike the rest of the store, this room wasn't anything special even before the end of the world, and that's certainly not going to change now.

Now normally, a store like this might have an entrance in the back for trucks to unload their cargo, but for a place as advanced as MagMart, that'd just be silly. All the suppliers of the store's products were provided with a handy Tele-Door, through which they sent all their monthly shipments. From there, it came right out the massive Tele-Door on this side, and was immediately shelved or put in storage by Magbots.

Today, the one and only thing that can be seen on the other side of the door is the MagCave, which can be entered by simply walking right through. Whether this means that all those people who used to run shipments for MagMart are stranded somewhere, or if Maggy was nice enough to bring them all to his MagCave earlier before cutting ties with their Tele-Doors, remains to be seen. Someone who knows about how MagMart operates could always ask Maggy, but I don't know if you'd get a straight answer outta the guy. Seems like the sort of thing he'd want to keep secret.

[Mr. Moon]

MagFirmary

Moon Called watches incredulously as Saurous digs into the box of crackers. When he looks up at her, she stares at him a little longer, before bursting into laughter. All that compounded stress and worry is momentarily forgotten in an extended burst of full and hearty laughter. It's not that Saurous with his face full of crumbs is the funniest thing Moon's ever seen (although it comes close). It's just that all that stress has been building up like a dam, and it just got a hole.
Finally, Moon Called calms down, sucking in a deep breath of air. She holds out her good hand palm-upright and facing forward, shaking her head. "Oh Xun no. I'm about to get all the skin on my arm melted off. I don't think having any food in my system is a good idea. Throwing up all over you would probably just make things more difficult, I think."
hr

MagMart - Interior -> MagCave

Allen approaches the teledoor, his boots clicking loudly against the cold, cement floor. He pauses just before it, examining the technology. Quite interesting. If he remembered the lay of the land correctly, the MagCave was... elsewhere. The dark skinned man isn't entirely sure. And in all honesty, this could, quite possibly, be little more than a projection. There was a good chance this was all just a very convoluted trap by one of the Eldritch monsters, or else Magtok's reputation for shady practices was right and this was an ambush.
Allen's hands slide into his pockets and he wraps them around his lighter and one of the two aerosol cans he'd been holding onto. If this was a trap, he was ready. Inhaling deeply, he steps through the door...

... and into the MagCave.
His breath still held, Allen scans the area around him for any threats or signs hostiles. When nothing jumps out at him, he relaxes slightly, exhaling. His hands are still wrapped around his makeshift flamethrower, but it doesn't look like he's about to point it at someone anymore.

[Lady Serpentine]

MagMart
"Tirin, why don't you look so good?"

Well, he looks okay, just worried.

"I'm just worrying about you, and whoever this is that just healed you."

Not true, of course. But telling your wife that you may have just broken someone's mind is not going to be a fun conversation. Not to mention that it would be confusing. And, probably, it's temporary. He certainly hopes so. Not that he's guilty about it; he actually felt far worse during the incident with Clarissa. But if he shot Elena for no good reason with a whole mind...

[Mindfreak]

MagMart
"Oh, okay."
She gets up and tries to lean on her husband.
"You know, you should go into MagMart and be safe, you're not exactly a part of Umbrella and I want you to be safe."

[Lady Serpentine]

[MagMart - Parking Lot]

Tirin is leaned on, and tries to put his arm around her to support her.

He shakes his head.

"I'm sticking with you."

[Mindfreak]

MagMart - Parking Lot
Elena gave a sigh of relief, she wanted Tirin safe but she also didn't want to be parted from him.
"Tirin........there's something I need to get off my chest then. I........knew about your sister before you told me.........I went to a seer to find out about your past......."
It looks like she was coming out with her secrets. Might as well when you can die any moment and you lose the chance.

[Lady Serpentine]

[MagMart - Parking Lot]

"All right."

He tries to pull her close.

[Mindfreak]

MagMart - Parking Lot
She's willingly pulled.
"Tirin, I'm sorry I didn't tell you.......it was just I didn't want you to go and leave me before I even got a chance to know you......."

[Lady Serpentine]

[MagMart - Parking Lot]

"It's okay, Elena."

Tirin scans her.

[Mindfreak]

MagMart
She's feeling a lot of guilt over that she knew and wouldn't have been able to tell him.
She tries to hide her face by putting it against his chest.

[Lady Serpentine]

[MagMart - Parking Lot]

The maneuver is successful, and Tirin tries to pull her into a hug.

"Really, it's okay."

((Deadtime soon))

[Mindfreak]

MagMart - Parking Lot
"Tirin, what did I do to get a guy like you?"
The guilt goes away into calmness.
"There's still all that food at Umbrella for the cafeteria. They have rather extensive freezers full of meats and veggies and the like. We're going back to get it soon."