Elevator -- Tower of Illusion -- Niflheim
This looks like any other elevator, except for the fact that on
the little button panel the only button that works happens to be the one
with the '2' on it. All the other buttons, inculding '1' are stuck and
will not move, no matter how hard anyone presses. It seems that once you
move on, you can't go back.
Terry gazes at the elevator button, "mmmmkay.. I guess we should push
2?"
Jubilee obviously does NOT like this, and crosses her arms the second
the elevator doors shut, and after wiping her cheeks and eyes. "Go for
it."
Terry takes a breath and presses the button.
Hallway -- 2nd Floor -- Tower of Illusion -- Niflheim
Reaching both ways as far as you can see, this hallway runs east
to west. Thick white carpeting lines the floor and the walls are
tastefully decorated with modern artwork. On every other ceiling pannel
there's a lamp with three lightblubs glowing, illuminating the hallway.
Wait a sec! It looks -just- like the Hallway in the boy's side back
home. Down to the placement of the artwork on the wall, and a stain on
the carpet from when one of the boys dropped a drink. Exactly the same!
Except for the fact that there's only one door on the left side of the
hallway. Also there doesn't appear to be any wall on the end of the
corridor, like it just keeps going and going in both directions.
Jubilee frowns softly as they emmerge from the elevator and into the
boys hall.. Her arms uncross and she looks up and down the hallway,
murmuring "Well, pretty obvious where we're supposed ta go, huh? ... Hey
Terry?" She wrinkles her nose as she looks at that one door. "If this
/where/ the boys hall.. who's room would ya say that would be? From
placement, I mean.."
Terry shakes her head, "I dinna know.. I tend t' date outside th' males
on th' team." She tilts her head and sniffs, "Ugh smells like a locker
room.." She walks carefully towards the door a hand already
outstretched.
Well, one thing's for sure, you're not in Kansas anymore. Or New
York. Or even -Earth- for that matter. But at least the surroundings
seem familar. That's a plus, isn't it? What? Were you all expecting to
go straight to the top? Naw. What kinda challange would -that- be. As
for the door placement, well, in relation to the stain, it looks like it
would be going into Jonothon's room. But is that what's on the other
side? Who knows.
Jubilee sighs and musters up some courage.. "Well, open it up. We gotta
get through this place fast before that wench sinks her claws inta my
man." Jubilee powers up, a glow consentraing around her hands, and she
waist directly to the side of the door so anything popping out will miss
her, while she's ready to blast anything that /does/.
Terry's Personal Room -- Tower of Illusion -- Niflheim
You find yourself in a circular room all of grey stone, a window
is fitted with panes of old glass. If you peer through the window you
can see a view over looking a stormy grey ocean below the tower that is
part of the keep upon the high ragged cliffs, but likely the view is not
real. Pale colors shift through each diamond shaped pane. Dusky rose,
pale lavender, soft green, and heather blues. The light flickers through
and on to a coloring book and crayons. Crayola's 64 box with the built
in sharpener. There is also a box of various chocolates, a few missing.
A couple pillows are in the room, with a small flickering candle next to
them. There is a door in the bottom of the smooth wooden floor.
Jubilee follows Terry in and blinks as she looks around her.. Okay.. no
monsters, no attackers, just a box of crayons and a candle and a trap
door. A grin spreads over Jube's lips. "Oh man, this is gunna be easier
then I /thought/!"
Terry shifts from her defensive stance, she looks completely stunned.
"B' ha'.. this is th' keep. This is muh secret place.. I..I..."
A quote from the rules Jubilee read aloud: "you will face desires,
fears, temptations, and secrets." Guess this must be the first taste of
that. The room looks.. completely real. Solid. The smells are the same
as Terry would remember. Everything. Almost an exact replica.
Jubilee blinks at Terry and looks at the girl with a little confusion,
then again around the room. "Your secret place..? Hey Terry, you
okay..?" She frowns some and rests a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"It's not real. It's just an illusion."
Terry leans down and picks up the lid off the chocolates, "Maronari's..
those are th' ones tha' Uncle Tom would bring home fer me." She glances
to Jubilee, "Jubes I dinna tell anyone abou' this place.."
Jubilee's lips slowly turn ferther down as that line from the rules runs
through her head again.. "Desires, fears, temptations, and secrets..
Damn. Well.. I guess Secret is better then temptation, fear, or
desire.." Briefly, Jube wonders which one of those four /she'll/ get..
and she silently dreads showing up in a certain bathroom on Muir
Island.. She'd never live it down if they knew.. "Well.. how do ya
suppose we get through it? The trap door maybe..?"
Hushed whispers can be heard below the room, normally they
wouldn't be able to be heard, because of the amount of distance between
this room and where the voices are, but this -is- a Tower of Illusion.
"You better send that lass of yours away before she sees more then she
should." The voice is extremely Irish, and likely familar to Terry, as
one of her "uncle's friends." Then another voice follows it, a little
bit louder, "She won't stumble upon anything, lad. She's just a little
girl. She probably wouldn't understand it if she did." The first voice
adds in, "Yes, but little lasses grow up." With that the voices seem to
fade. Now, this one isn't an exact memory, more extracted from different
memories and dreams Terry might have had.
Terry kneels down to tug on the ring attached to the door, her mouth
opening to speak. Then she closes it tight. Her eyes going wide.
Jubilee blinks as she too hears those Irish voices, and her lips turn
WAY down.. "Oh man, Terry.." she whispers, looking sympatheticly at the
red-head before she creeps up to the trap door and takes a peek down
through it..
Through the crack of the trap door is an image of Terry's "uncle"
and his partener. They are still talking, but their voices are hushed
now. Listening to a conversation here is like reading in a dream. Not
carrying further then their natural distance. One minute the pages are
clear as day, the next the letters start to move in a confused manner.
But whatever the conversation is, the other man seems to be making a
point that Black Tom is starting to understand. After a few more seconds
of hushed whispers, the words increase in distance they carry once more.
"Alright. You're right. I should send her away to boarding school. It
should be a good experience for her. Maeve wouldn't have wanted her
exposed to what we do. At least not until she's older." The voices fade
again, and so do the images of the two men. Almost like switching scenes
in a movie.
Terry's lower lip quivers as she hears the words. She hasn't seen the
image...but she has certainly heard those words.
Jubilee's frown again deepens and she turns quickly away from the scene
and moves to Terry, wrapping the girl up into a hug of support. "Screw
'em, Terry. You've got a world-class dad who /so/ totally loves you and
this looser is just an imposter. And it's not real anyhow.. It's just an
illusion that freaky chick is making up so we'll stick around here."
Alright, everyone here has been to the movies, and you've all seen
scenes change before your eyes, jumping through time. Well, lookie here.
That's what happens. This place would be a awesome place to make a
movie. Quick graphics without the cost! The room... shimmers for a
second, some of the things changing places. The small flickering candle
has been replaced by a electric lantern, sitting where the box of
Crayons was is an empty bottle of whiskey. Laying near the window is a
younger version of the Theresa Cassidy - then known as Rourke - in the
room with you all today. Perhaps as many as 4 years. And she appears to
be passed out on the floor, with another bottle in her hand and a few
around her.
Terry covers her mouth with her hand. Being confronted with the truth is
often hard. She lets out a little sob of shock and dismay that Jubes of
all people is sseeeing this.
Jubilee looks over at the other Terry and frowns REALLY deeply now,
clinging to terry to keep her close, one hand lifting to stroke the
girl's red hair. "Shh... S'okay Terry.. C'mon, ain't that bad.. We're
friends, remember..?" Meaning: It's your past, and I don't judge you by
it. Considering the hell she must have went through living with that
bastard uncle, it's no wonder she turned to a bottle for comfort.
A few voices ring throughout the room, like a voice over in a
movie. One is the voice of Terry's roommate when she was in boarding
school, "Oh, come on, Red. A little drink never killed no one." Then
another was another girl from the same school, "God, that Rourke girl,
she drinks more then my -dad-." Another is one more recently, a few
voices Terry likely heard at bars she was in, "Hey, pretty thang, can I
get you another drink?" Dozens of other such quotes, most from Terry's
past fill the room, until they all overlap and it turns into a soft roar
of voices. Damn. Talk about sound effects.
Terry sobs with a deep wracking noise, her entire body shaking as she
sees this. Her eyes wild with the memories, the here and now..
Jubilee clings tightly to Terry and rubs her back slowly, trying as best
as she can to sooth the girl the way she once soothed Jubilee. Her voice
is soft and gentle, trying to reassure. "That's all behind ya know,
Terry. Yer not like that anymore. You moved passed it. And ya know no
one on the team thinks any less'a you because of your past - we all got
pasts. But we're a family, Terry. We get through the hard times together
and we don't abandon our family. C'mon girl.. None'a this can hurt ya
anymore."
Terry wraps her arms about herself. She starts to rock a touch as
Jubilee, continues to rub her. "Don' y' get it Jubes.. it wasn't tha'
long ago.. it was last week..." She gives a little laugh of dismay,
pain, and anguish, before disolving into more tears.
Jubilee's eyes grow ever more sad with each passing moment that she
fails to comfort her friend.. The one who comforted /her/ when /she/
needed it. She continues doing the only thing she can think to do,
holding Terry close and rubbing her back or brushing back her hair,
saying whatever soothing words she can think of. "It doesn't matter,
Terry. If you've still got a problem, we're all gunna help you through
it! We're your friends, your family! We're not gunna just abandon you,
Terry. We'll help in any way we can. And ya know, Gen X all working
together is an unstoppable force." She offers a little grin to try and
lift the girl's spirits even a tad.
Again, the scene shimmers, the voices fading until they are
nothing more then whispers. The passed out Terry vanishes and is
replaced by an older Terry, one that looks near the same as the Terry
standing here right now. Her clothes are different, she looks as if
she's dressed up for a funeral. This is -not- a memory. It's more
something along the lines of a nightmare Terry once had. The illusion
Terry is stareing out the window, taking a drink from a bottle and
looking at the transparent reflection of herself in the window. She's
also crying. The scene doesn't seem to progress any further then just
setting it. At least yet.
Terry wipes her hands across her eyes, "Awwww God ... wha' na'...." She
hiccups a touch, "Wha' kind of horrible game is this.."
Jubilee again tries to turn Terry's eyes away from the scene, frowning
deeply.. She doesn't really understand the symbolism of all this, but
she /does/ understand how it's effecting Terry.. and it scares her to
death. If his is what Terry faces.. what will /Jubilee/ be forced to
face? Yes, a gift certificate could have been much nicer, Ev.. "She's
just tryin' ta break ya down, Terry!" 'She' obviously being Lishka.
"Screw her! None of this is /right/, none of it's really /you/! The
Terry I know is kind and generous and would do anything for her friends
and teammates, she's just got a few problems like /everyone/ and she's
gunna get /over/ them!" Her hands come up to cup Terry's face, blue eyes
staring into those green ones. "C'mon Terry, ya gotta keep it together.
Think of Ev! We gotta get out of here so we can save him!"
The scene moves on in slow motion while Jubilee talks, the
Illusion Terry taking a few more drinks from the bottle in her hand
while she looks out the window. When Jubilee is finished, before Terry
can say anything, the voice-overs and sound effects return. All around
there's the sounds of a battle. Blasts here, blasts there, yelling. Over
all of it one voice rings out. Terry's voice with her Irish accent, "We
can't fall back!" Someone else - is that Jubilee's own voice? - calls
out, "We have to! Like, we can't face these odds, Irish." The voices
fade, but the sounds of battle continue.
Terry shifts her focus on to Jubilee, her eyes still wet with tears. She
hiccups and tries not to look at the changing scenes, but its clearly
hard not to do it. She flinches as she listens, "Ohhh no.. no...."
Jubilee frowns deeply, listening to what's going on around her.. Damn..
Damnit!! "Look at me, Terry." she says in a firm voice, cupping the
girl's face still. "It's not /real/. She's screwing with yer head and
you're not gunna let her! It's /not real/! She's taking yer worst fears
and trying to convince you it's actually gunna happen, but it's /not/!
Yer fear can only affect you if you /let/ it!"
The sounds of battle continue, more yelling. The entire team
gets at least one or two yells in. Some actually get words. Most don't
though. There's a lot of screaming. It sounds like someone took sound
bites from a horror movie and a war movie and overlapped them onto a sad
depressing scene of a pretty red head trying to literally drink herself
to death. The sounds seem like they're going to continue for a while,
while the illusion Terry continues taking slow motion drinks from her
bottle.
Terry gazes at the bottle, she glances back at Jubilee. She places her
hands on Jubilee's hands. She bites her bottom lip trying desperately to
focus past it.
Jubilee turns her hands to take Terry's and gives them both a squeeze,
focusing only on her as she listens to the horrid battle sounds giong on
around them.. A knot ties in her stomach as she realizes just why the
illusion Terry is dressed for a funeral.. "It's not gunna happen, Terry.
You'd never /let/ it happen. You gotta /believe/ in yourself like /we/
do!"
The yelling suddenly dies out, or at least most of it does. Only
one yell remains, the destinctice sonic scream of Theresa Cassidy.
Explosions and combat sounds still fill the room while the illusion form
of Terry continues to cry. Eventually the sounds all die out, all that's
left is the sonic scream. But over all the room is... changing. The
images blurring slightly. Perhaps because Terry is trying to look past
it. Or perhaps that's just another one of the strange special effects in
this strange place.
Terry flinches hard as she hears only her scream now. She continues to
gaze into Jubilee's eyes, "Tis not real... its na' real..." She chews on
her bottom lip looking pale and panickd.
Jubilee releases Terry's hands again and touches each of her cheeks with
one hand, cupping her face, trying to help her focus beyond what's going
on around her. "It's not real, and it never /will/ be." she insists,
noting the dimming and changing of the room around them.. Perhaps it's
working? Or perhaps that wench has other tricks up her sleave.. Well, no
matter what it is, Jube will help Terry through it! It's the least she
can do after how Terry helped her.. and besides, it's keeping Jube's
mind off what could possibly lay in her own private corner of this
hell.
Well, the scene continues to fade, colors vanishing until the
place looks like an incredably blurry black and white movie. And a
silent movie at that. The screams and war sounds have completely faded,
and it's completely silent except for sounds made by the very team. And
any sounds that are made sound very loud in comparison to the silence
all around. Kind of like everyone can hear a cough in church when they
are having a moment of silence. The illusion Terry is still there, but
she too is colorless, and washed out, movements still really slow,
making motions like someone in a movie with only a couple frames a
second.
Gwen Namura tilts her head, and says, "I wonder if there are squirrels
out there. Think I should check?" She heads towards the window, one hand
raised slightly, walking through the scene, if she can. When she reaches
it, she attempts to pry the window open.
Terry screams suddenly, using the full force of her power but aiming it
away from her friends. "Its NOT REAAAAAAAAAAA...." What ever words she
is saying get lost in her screaming.
Jubilee shreaks and jumps back from Terry, hands coming up quickly to
cover her ears. "Aaaaah Terrrrryyyy!! Tone it dooooowwwwnn
pleeeeeeease?!" Gwen is given the oddest look for her sudden intrest
in.. squirrels, was it? Weirdo. What do /squirrels/ have to do with
anything?!
Well, Gwen, is able to walk "though" the scene. Literally. The
illusion Terry is just a visual illusion right now, and hense Gwen
passes right through her. But when she tries to open the window, it just
vanishes. No squirrels out there. Certainly no "big fat squirrels". The
window, while it was there, overlooked the ocean. No trees for squirrels
to be in. But Terry's scream seems to cut the last string holding this
illusion together. She's faced her fear, not really physically, like
some of them will have to, but she has faced it. Believe it or not, this
was actually one of the "easy" rooms. The walls become faded again
and...
The air near the center of the room seems to shimmer briefly and a
spiral staircase appears there, leading up into a newly formed hole in
the ceiling.
Terry stands upwards, the hears drying on her face and she reaches
towards the staircase.
Jubilee looks a little relieved as the whole thing ends and sighs a bit,
again that lingering fear of what's gunna be in /her/ room popping up in
her mind.. But Jube pushes it back in her mind as far as she can, and
just follows along with Terry.
Gwen Namura shrugs, and heads for the stairs with Terry. "Nope. No big
ol' squirrels."
Spiral Stairs -- Tower of Illusion -- Niflheim
Iron steps covered in a white carpet spiral from the top and lower
levels with painted white railing, remind you a lot of the Spiral Stairs
back home. The ones you go up every night to get to your rooms. The
railing though is freezing to the touch, so cold that it almost seems
like if you had wet hands your hands would freeze to it instantly. It
seems to go up more then one flight apparently with how many steps there
are, but with this place you can never tell. Once you reach the top as
far as you can go, there's a door in the ceiling, like one would find in
a storm celler. In fact, it's just like the door on the storm celler
back on the Guthrie farm. It's easily pushed open.
Terry drops onto her tush. She takes deep breaths, "Tha' was horrible.."
Jubilee climbs up with the others to the top of the stairs before she
too drops down onto the floor, heaving a great sigh. "Man, this sucks so
bad.. I figured we climb up a staircase or something, fight some
monsters, foil an evil plan, and we're outta here!" A deep frown coveres
Jubilee's features and she crosses her legs indian style, hands in her
lap, head turned down. "Happy Birthday to Me, huh?
Gwen Namura says "Like... it could be worse."
Gwen Namura says "Illy could have thrown the surprise party."
Terry smirks, "So now we're in some sor' o' hellish dungion's an dragons
Gwen Namura says "I wanna be a Ranger!"
Jubilee actually laughs at Gwen's little joke, leaning back against the
wall to rest some. "Yeah.. or we could'a caught Sam and Jo on the couch
gettin' it on." She cringes at the very thought of witnessing such an
act between Jo and the guy she looks at as the closest thing to a Big
Brother she has. "Or Paige could'a crashed the party and husked into a
bear and eaten all the cake.." She tosses a grin at the girls and says
"If she gets to be a Ranger, I wanna be a elven thief."
Terry rolls her eyes, "Half-elf cleric."
Gwen Namura says "Like, totally! Terry? You wanna be the... Yay!"
Gwen Namura says "Like, thief, wanna look for secret passages?"
Jubilee grins at them all and lifts up a hand, pointing one finger to
the sky as if to get attention so she can announce some great idea. "But
we have no real magic, and everyone knows you have to have a Wizard in
your posse to get /anywhere/." She wrinkles her nose a little at Gwen,
then nods and pulls herself up to her feet, satrting to slowly look
around, touch the walls, pull the torches or whatever - you get the
idea.
A shimmer and mist fill the air and further up the stairs Lishka
appears out of nothing, "I sell those games at my store. Of course those
games have an advantage of not actually being real." She seems in a
half-way decent mood, but she's also kind of distracted. In actuality
she is not here. She's sent an illusion of herself to mock the team a
little. The -real- Lishka is still trying to talk some reason into Ev.
While yet another illusion of herself is down greeting the new kids in
the Lobby. She's seriously stretching herself out here.
Terry snorts, "Sam ken be th' wizard when he wakes..." She blinks up at
Lishka, "Dammit woman!"
Gwen Namura says "I'm changing classes! Paladin Gwen!"
Gwen Namura holds an inverted sword by the guard, forming a glowing
cross of gold. "Get thee back, thou darkformed fiend!"
Jubilee turns around quickly upon hearing that witches voice, and Jube
balls her hands up and takes a swing at Illusuion Lishka. "YOU! Ya know
you /really/ oughta put a nice disclaimer on that game'a yours! 'Don't
play if you're allergic to meglomaniacs who like the thermostat turned
WAY down'!"
Well, the real Lishka would flinch away from the light, because
she's sensitive to it, but the illusion one isn't really. She does take
a step up the stairs. "There is a 'disclaimer' on the game. The first
card. 'Playing can be dangerous for all involved. You play at your own
risk.' The card even says that the game was real." Then she nods towards
Terry, actually smiling slightly, "You did extremely well. Got through
the room in a faster time then most do. Everett was right when he said
you all were good."
Terry squirms as the woman focuses on her, "Um thanks I guess.."
Gwen Namura says, "Aroint thee! It's gonna get harder, yep." She
flourishes the sword, in a noble manner. Then sheathes it. It must have
an invisible scabbard, as it vanishes as she places it on her hip.
Jubilee grumbles very much and balls up her fists, though they now
remain at her sides. She gives Lishka that patented 'Oh man when we get
outta this I am SO gunna wipe the floor with your smirky snerky little
up-turned nosed /face/!' glare. This is her /birthday/, damnit!! She was
supposed to be up in her room playing kissy-face with Ev right about
now! Not fighting for his /freedom/! However.. something starts to occor
to Jubilee.. and that angry expression becomes more smug, and Jube's
fists relax. "It really pisses you off, don't it. I bet you go up to Ev
and try to convince him we'll never make it, or we'll abandon him, or he
should be your little love puppet. And he doesn't even /flinch/, does
he. And it must tick you off so bad that you've got these amazing powers
and are so much more then we could ever /dream/ ta be, and yet he'd
choose /us/, he'd choose /me/, over you and your little palace of
illusions."
Somewhere, at the top of the Tower, Lishka is flinching. Ev's
probably wondering why as well. Ouch. That... hurts. But the illusion of
her just looks completely unphased and her voice is pure ice and
shadows, "You will not make it, girl. Most groups that go through this
Tower are three or four. All of you have to make it to win. Do you know
what the odds of all of you being able to face your fears? You greatest
desires? -All- of you? Inculding the two who just entered the game
downstairs." What two? Who entered? Meep.
Gwen Namura says "Ya know what? Uh-uh."
Terry tilts her head, "Wha' happens if we give in?" She scowls angrily.
Gwen Namura says "Like, there wasn't anything on that card bout betting
Everetts, anyhow, was there?"
Jubilee pretends not to give a damn about what's going on down stairs,
and instead takes a step closer to the illusion Lishka and grins
deviously, like the cat who just swallowed the canary. She /knows/, gut
instinct, when she's found someone's button. And she just hit pay-dirt.
"We /will/ make it. And ya know why? Same reason Terry made it through
her own little private hell. We're not just friends who got some stupid
game, we're a /family/. And Ev is part of that family. And Ev and I love
eachother and when two people love eachother, that's a force not all
your hocus-pocus and voodoo tricks can /ever/ deal with, Ice Princess.
And you /know/ it. We're gunna get through this, all of us, because if
we don't then Ev suffers for it."
Ouch. Jubilee, you are so perfect for the part that you are
playing. Lishka's competitor, and tormenter. Again, the illusion makes
no reaction to those words, instead just inclining her head, "If you say
so. But I feel I should tell you a few things. This is one of the rooms
that is not programmed to do anything to you. There are many such rooms
like these. I suggest you rest in these rooms, get sleep when you can,
then move forward. Also, not all of you have to move forward in order to
open new doors. A small group can continue on to the next level while
another group catches up on sleep and when that group is done they can
head back for the group that stayed behind. Once a room is finished both
doors forward and back reopen. You just can't go down to the Lobby
again. Any questions?"
Gwen Namura winks at the Elven Thief. "Jubes, you ready to kick the pale
bimbo's wide behind?"
Terry stands up and dusts her pants off, "Alright enough o' this lets
move on an' get this done..
Jubilee smirks at Lishka and leans in real close just to say "Must be
hell when what you want doesn't want /you/, huh?" before she turns away
and looks quite pleased with herself, nodding to the girls. "Yeah,
c'mon. Lets keep movin', leave Frosty here to her little dillusions."
As if on cue, Lishka vanishes into nothingness. Would you want to
stand around and be hurt further? Well, if you had the -choice- that is.
Forest -- 3rd Floor -- Tower of Illusion -- Niflheim
Spanning the distance this path is quite senic and thick with
trees. Odd. This place looks just like the wooded path that was on Muir
Island, except, for some reason the sky looks unreal, like a sky drop on
a movie set, and the further the trees go, the more they look like fake
cardboard cut outs instead of real living trees. Also the area lacks the
sounds of a real forest. No crickets, no birds singing. Only the wind
rustling the trees.
Terry can't help from starting to smile, "Muir."
Gwen Namura says "Hm. A stage set of the island, yes. She's showing less
and less inspiration."
A bunch of ambient electricity abruptly takes shape...into Will.
Terry sighs, "I don't know Gwen.. she's been pretty inspired for me.."
Gwen Namura says "Nah. Everything here's us. No external creativity."
Terry nods, "That's th' point Gwen.. she knows ha' t' twist us.."
Will walks up from behind. "Hi Guys.....weird place, huh?"
Gwen Namura says "Yeah. But only one of us at a time, I'd guess. This
has to be Rahne's nightmare."
Terry tilts her head, "Rahne's na th' only one t' ha' lived along time
a' Muir. Longer than me.. b' where d' y' think I spent th' last t'
years."
Gwen Namura says "Uh... oh. Good point."
Jubilee wrinkles up her nose and wraps her arms around herself, looking
all around.. "But if this is Rahne's nightmare then why are we in it and
she's not?" She looks over towards the others and nods briefly to Will.
"Is she even /here/? So far it looks like all this stuff comes from the
heads of those in the area.. So it must be one of /us/.." Which scares
Jubilee to /death/. Because if it's /her/.. God, she'd never live it
down if they knew what happened here..
Well, after a few minutes of them talking, the area around them
changes. Perhaps Lishka had to jumpstart it. The scene desolves from day
into night. The trees lose their leaves and start swaying slightly,
chilled wind coming out of no where. The ground is covered with a good
amount of fog and mist, kind of like the effect of dry ice in water. But
this is from Muir Island mist is kind of a way of life. Sounds of
branches smashing together fills the air, akin to the sound of old bones
rattling together. The wind makes a light whistling sound, and the cries
of crickets and screetching owls appear out of nowehere.
"Everyone get on yuir guard.." Terry releases a gentle yell and takes to
the air hovering, keeping a watch on the area.
Gwen Namura says "Like... I'm gonna sit here."
Gwen Namura sits here.
Will starts slightly at the sudden special effects, as he too seems to
tense up and mentally prepare himself...he looks uncertainly to Gwen,
though, not wanting her to get hurt.
Jubilee casts an odd and somewhat annoyed glance at Gwen before Jube
'powers up', a glow surrounding her hands as she looks all around her to
await whatever is gunna be sneaking out of the woods to eat them or
something. No biggie, though. They can handle this.
Sam stands in the center of the froup, fists clenched to tight balls.
"Alraght, guys...saty on yoah toes n' be ready..." His blue eyes scan
the thickly fogged area, peering through the mist to see what he can.
Heart pounding and clenching with each beat as he takes the steps
forward. If he even knows where forward is, clearing his throat and
saying calmly, "Stick tagethah, people, ah don't want any surprises. We
work tagethah and since we ain't got our comlinks, we stay in talkin'
distance. Period." Nervous, Sammy? Mmhmm.
Well, Sammy's got good reason to be nervous. A stable city you
know won't open up and swallow you. Here though? Well you're not so
lucky. There's sudden shrill cries of an owl everywhere, the cries of a
creature that is sometimes assosiated with death by certain cultures
just because of it's cries, and then, suddenly, tree roots come to life
under where Gwen has sat down, trying to wrap around her.
Terry tries not to roll her eyes as half of what Sam says is what she
said. She waits and waits looking prepared, furious.. she yelps as she
catches sight of what is happening to Gwen.
Gwen Namura flashes once, and is covered in golden armor. She allows the
trees to wrap her.
Will turns, shouting, "Gwen!" His fists charge wigh golden energy, and a
thick bolt of electricity lances out from his palms towards the tree
whose roots are attacking Gwen, the stench of ozone filling the air as
the energy burns towards its target.
Jubilee blinks as the branches start to cover Gwen, and for a moment she
looks rather.. helpless. But then she hears that buzzing and watches the
streek of electricty as Will blasts at the roots. "WILL! No!! Yer gunna
fry Gwen!!" After the blast has hit, she dashes over towards Gwen before
the perverbial smoke has even cleared, dropping to her knees. "Gwen!?!"
Don't be dead don't you /dare/ be dead or I'm gunna /kill/ you!
"Jezus!" He was expecting /something/ to happen, but the roots coming
alive still came as a surprise. Flinching slightly, his attention is
given fully to Gwen as he darts toward her, knowing she is more then
capable of getting herself out of this mess. Just as he assumes, she
flexes her golden armor on and allows the trees to wrap her? "Gwen!"
Then Will takes action, more then enough of an assault to take care of
the roots with a mind of their own. The only problem? Just as Jube's
said, Gwen might be fried, but has enough faith in Will to trust he
would not dare endanger the girl. So far so good, but Sam has an empty
feeling that this is only a taste of what 'Lishka' has in store for
them. His legs quickly take him to Gwen's side as he crouches down,
pulling the now dead (I hope) branches from around her. "Up we go, girl,
got ta git movin'. Yoah gunna be alraght, hmm?" Eyes stay plastered to
the surrounding area, anticipating another attack.
Well, some things work, some things don't. Will fries a tree
pretty darn good until the smell of burnt tree fills the area. But wanna
know something? That's just an illusion. Same as the roots, because just
as Sam gets over to try and help Gwen out of the roots, they pull. And
when they pull, they -really- pull. Now why didn't the roots die?
Because, simple enough, they are illusions. They feel real, they look
real, the smell real, heck, if you bit it they would -taste- real. But
they -aren't-. They are solid, yes, which is how they are able to grab
Gwen, but nothing can happen to them that the illusionist doesn't want
to happen. Gwen, in her shinny gold armor, is litterally sucked into the
earth. In her place is just a small sunk in area.
Terry yells in shock, "Gwen? Oh godd..!"
Auric doesn't yelp or anything. She sits and is hauled down. Sulking.
Will litereally throws himself into the depression where Gwen vanished
and begins tearing at ground/roots/etc with his bare hands, screaming
her name and trying to find where she may be.
"GWEN!!" Why didn't you FIGHT you stupid girl!! Jubilee joins Will in
tearing up the ground as /fast/ as she possibly can, throwing dirt and
whatever else aside to try and get to the teammate that just got sucked
down. "We gotta get to her before she suffocates!!"
"Sweet Jezus, no!" Sam yells, falling to his knees where Gwen just
vanished into the deep, dark earth. His hands claw along with Will's as
he pleads with the god in heaven that this is just a dream. Yep, just
one big /nightmare/. And if Gwen is out for good, Lishka, you best be
watching your back. Sam takes a hold of Will and pulls him back, "Just a
sec, ah've got an idea..." With that, he moves just to the left from
where Gwen vanished and turns on his power, veering up in the sky and
then barrels down into the ground like a big drill. The heat and force
of his field tears the dirt up fast and with fury as he begins to make a
huge tunnel into the ground. What does he hope? He hopes that the hole
will allow Gwen the room she needs to bust through and get to air,
grabbing onto him so he can pull her out. "C'mon, Gwen....."
Well, Sam's idea was a good one, but un-needed. As pulling Gwen
into the earth wasn't a perminant thing. Two trees nearby, one's whos
roots where also in the cage around Gwen as well as the tree Will fried
meld into one -large- tree. A -huge- tree. At least 15 feet in diameter
in the trunk. The middle of the tree opens up and glowing with her gold
armor still on is Gwen, held in the tree, kind of looking like a
gemstone set inside a staff. Anyone here seen Techni: Daughter of
Darkness? The scene with Sasami trapped inside the tree of Darkness? How
come this somehow reminds those who have of that? Possably because this
part was inspired by the memory of one of you seeing that.
Auric yawns at the tree.
Terry looks upset, she blinks and rakes her hands through her hair,
"Awwwwww crap.." She lands, "Any ideas oh wise leader?" She glances to
Sam.
Will looks round after Sam tosses him out of the hole, and spots Gwen.
He yells--one could almost call it anime-style, as wide as his mouth
opens--and he charges rather impulsively towards the tree, intent on
smashing it....though heaven knows how.
Suddenly, the tree swells slightly, then explodes. There is a brief
glimpse of a network of golden tendrils spreading out into a demonic,
then angelic pair of wings, then vanishing back into Auric's back as she
steps off the stump.
Jubilee was /just/ about to run towards the tree as well when suddenly..
tree goes boom, and Jube blinks and just stands there looking.. stunned.
"She.. She can /do/ that?" she stage-whispers to Sam. She's never been
real clear on what Gwen's powers are, and that display was just...
weird. WAY OUT Weird.
The roar of Sam's blasting field comes to a stop as he realises that
Gwen is in not as much danger as they once had thought. A burst of
orange energy can be seen from the deep hole as Sam basically is thrown
upwards and out of it, landing on his feet just to the left of the
opening. Now well covered in dirt, he gives a glance to the rest of the
team, making sure all is in place so he can focus his attention upon
Gwen. Then Will takes action, "Will! Saty back! We don't know what could
cause 'er ta go back unah! Foah now, don't threaten it at all..." He
takes a step forward, beginning to answer Terry's question, "Well, is it
safah havin' Gwen get herself outta there n' we act as support, or shall
we go smash the thing n' hope it don't swallow Gwen again? First ordah,
no attackin' the tree until my command or if Gwen's in dangah...." His
mind goes back into deep thought. Well, Sammy, how the hell do you get
out of this one? Then Gwen does her power display and simply steps out,
giving Sam's worried state a /huuuge/ relief. "Gwen? Ya alraght?" He
moves toward her, examining her body and checking for any apparent
injuries.
The cries in the air seem to grow in volumn, and quanity as well.
Almost as if Gwen hurt the very spirit of the forest. Of course Gwen's
attack was actually allowed to happen, because Lishka kind of liked the
idea of the little glowing gal rescuing herself. And they've just killed
two living trees. Naughty, Naughty. Didn't anyone tell you all to
respect nature? The ground starts to shake, the bare trees knocking
together again like old rattling bones, the shreaks of the owls raising
towards the heavens. Even the mist in the area seems to crawl more.
Terry sighs at Gwen, "Nothin' like having a fabulous rescue opportunity
ruined.." She grins, "We ken take this woman, we ken d' this.." She
folds her arms across her chest as she tenses again readying for
whatever is going to come next.
Auric walks out of the stump, and sits down again. "I still am not
impressed."
"Yer /insane/ is what you are!" Jubilee protests to Gwen as she /sits
down/ again! Didn't she see what that did /last time/!?! Again, Jubilee
powers up as things start to run-amuck again and get all creepy, and she
slowly turns around in a full circle to try and see whatever may be
coming for them /next/. "Bring it on, Wench!" she calls into the
darkness to the not-physically-present Lishka.
Sam looks about the area, eyes resting on each teammate. he then seems
to confirm something, giving a nod and stepping towards Jubilee. The
grounds shaking and Lishka ain't happy, they are sitting ducks down here
on the ground. Solution? Take to the sky. "Jube's, grab on. Ahm not
sittin' heah and fightin' trees, we have ta go on..." He takes hold of
Jubilee and in less then a second, they are both enveloped by his
blasting field and slowly begin to rise. "Gwen, Terry, take ta the sky.
Follah n' stay close...." He tries to keep his blasting noise to a
minimum, holding onto Jubilee and peering all around as they raise above
all the trees and hopefully the fog. Maybe it's a bad idea, as long as
they don't have to deal with anymore mean trees that like to swallow
people.
Sam? You think Lishka would do the same thing twice? PLEASE! She -
lives- for these games. Literally. But at first nothing seems to happen
besides the branches of the trees banging together and owls screetching.
But off in the distance... What is that sound? A flock of birds maybe?
The wings beating against the sky. More owls maybe? Or... bats?
Auric says "Terry, take Rahne above. I'll stay here."
Terry glances to Auric with some startlement but she yells a bright cry
and swoops over to Rahne and starts to take the younger redhead up.
Gwen Namura de-armors and clings to Terry as ordered by Sam.
Jubilee eeks and cilngs onto Sam as he blasts off, wincing and wondering
how in heck she can drown out all that /noise/! How can he even /think/
like this?! She watches Terry and Gwen lift into the air, then looks
directly upward.. "No loops, okay? If I don't have a safty bar between
me and Oblivion I get sick."
"Gwen!" he begins to lower back to the ground with Jubilee, grabbing
onto Gwen's hand and then lifting back up with a grunt. Yep, he's using
a lot of effort on doing this and he ain't gonna be able to fight those
birds. "T-Terrah! Put up a wall o' sound n' knock those birds off
course. Jube's, Ah'll pull mah field in so ya can stick yoah hand out n'
fire when needed. Ahm flying ovah ta the north, just follah me, Terrah.
Gwen, just hang on. Ya alraght there, Rahney?" heh, he goes through a
check with each one. So it's going to be basically up to Jube's to fight
the birds, he and Terry have to get the /team/ over to the north.
Flap flap flap go the wings of a bat. Or to be more acurate, the
wings of a bunch of bats. The sound of them cued the leader, but it's
the sight that can obviously frighten. Imagine a huge dark cloud with a
hundred moving parts moving towards the group from the south - Good
thing Sammy picked north, huh? The cloud is likely made up of about 300
bats. No joke here. How come some of you are suddenly reminded of From
Dusk Till Dawn? Well, moves are often the greatest inspiration for an
artist trying to pin you against illusions of terror and fear. And to
think, this is only the 3rd floor. It can only get harder.
Terry rolls a touch, she's flying backwards keeping Rahne against her
still following towards Sam, "Be m' eyes Rahne..." She screams loudly as
hell creating a wall of sound aiming clearly into blasting towards the
bats and whatever else might be there.
Rahne has shifted into the lightest, most compact of her forms. It also
gives her the keenest senses. Unfortunately, it's also the most
difficult form to communicate in. But what nostrils, tastebuds, ears,
and eyes learn she can shift back to human to relate. Bats... big mice
with wings. Hmmmph.
Jubilee eeeeeks loudly and sticks out one of her hands, the other
holding /firmly/ to Sammy boy. The glow around her hands intensifies,
and she yells "HEADS UP!" before sending a massive assult of colored
orbs /zooming/ towards their air-born nocternal persuers, to be blown in
when the orbs are atleast a little into the dark cloud of tiny bodies.
Sam just keeps flying forward, grunting and groaning with each meter as
the stress of the extra weight is almost too much. Some may not notice,
but he gradually gets lower in the air, his body begging him to go to
the ground and take a rest. "Good, Jube's....just...keep 'em away...from
us." Beads of sweat roll past his temples as he heaves a big sigh and
says, "Guys, ah need ta land." Doing the one thing he does /not/ want to
do, Sam lowers back into the trees and fog, far away from where they
previously stood. As he lands with the two, having Terry follow, he can
only hope that Lishka gives them a break.
Yes Rahne, mice with wings. And Jubilee said it best when she
'eeked'. The colored orbs impact and explode, chunks of the black cloud
vanishing for an instant before being replaced. More and more appearing
out of no where. Damn. But wait a minute. Something's changing about
them. Remember that scene in one of the opening episodes of Thundercats
where a bunch of bugs turned into one big bug? Well.... a bunch of
little bats just turned into one -huge- bat, with a wing span of about
one hundred feet. With each flap it literally creates winds that are way
too fast. Good thing Sam decided to land. And... what's this? There's
another one of those huge trees near where Sam decided to put down.
But... there's something different about it. There's a hole in it, like
a cave. Can we say somewhere to hide from the big bad bat?
Terry keeps up her screaming as she lands heavily, droping Rahne and
Gwen as she gets there. She shoves them in the direction of the cave, as
she continues to try and distract or confuse the bats.
Gwen Namura says "Sam? Can I beat up the bat a bit?"
Jubilee eeks /again/ as Terry pushes peple towards the Cave. "Nooo!
Don't you guys watch horror movies!! You don't /ever/ corner yerself in
some place or what's outside will land outside the cave and what's
/inside/ will /eat/ us!!" Don't they KNOW this stuff?! Still, as they
big ol' bate keeps getting closer, that cave looks AWEFULLY nice..
Rahne hits the ground, clearly more comfortable where she can be of use.
The wolf shifts back into human form, although one hand remains in the
shape of a claw. The usually green eyes are yellow, sharp as they
continue their watch. Illusion... the whole thing sits wrong with her,
not being able to fully trust her senses.
"No, in the cave, fast!" Sam yells, grabbing onto Jubes' hand and Gwen's
and /pulling/ them towards the cave. He helps all in, going in last and
scrunching up with all the....girls! Party! Heh, that's neither here,
nor there. Getting on with the situation at hand, Sam slips into the
cave with all the rest of his team, saying in almost a whisper, "Rahney,
keep yoah nose up, if 'e gets close, tell us. Ah don't think e' can get
in heah, though." His attention is then brought to Jubilee, "Girl, give
us some light?" Now covered in dirt and almost exhausted, Sam can't help
but think this might get even /worse/.
Gwen Namura is dragged in. She holds up a hand, creating a golden
lightbulb. It illuminates the area vaugely.
Caverns -- Tower of Illusion -- Niflheim
For the first few yards this tunnel it is completely dark, and not
very wide either. You have to feel your way through it. There's a few
twists and a few turns then suddenly around the third turn a brief light
appears ahead and it grows into a good amount of light. Enough to see by
at least. The light is very eerie, unnatural, not from a fire, or a
lightbulb, and it's also kind of greenish in shade. And at the same time
the tunnel widens into a full blown cavern.
The rocks around you are of every imaginable shape --- some
twisting antlers, others like windblown glass. There are lacy falls of
angel hair and huge columns covered with formations like exquisite
flowers or the gills of mushrooms. The drip-drop of water echos through
the cave. The ceiling is high, and odd for such a huge cave there's no
smaller caves leading off. On one end of the cavern, there's an enormous
wall of flame-colored rock. It isn't flat. It looks like it's rippling
up and up, like an inverted Niagra Falls.
Gwen Namura says "You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike."
Terry drops onto the ground of the cave. She breathes deeply and
heavily, "God.. tha' was too much.."
Rahne remains near the mouth of the cave for the moment playing senses.
But as the group draws further in, she tracks them down, following her
nose and a niggling need to make sure something worse isn't on the other
side.
/Vague/ illumination? HA! Jubilee can do better then /that/, Gwen. Jube
nods to Sam and says "You got it, boss man." before lifting up her hands
and sending little orbs of light zooming forth, each of them taking a
place covering above the party's heads, atleast a dozen of the orbs all
spread out to allow for servicable light of the area. It's not bright,
but atleast they can see around them now.
Sam nods to both the girls providing light, biting his lower lip and
moving forward through the tunnel. "Well, guess we go ahead...." His
steps are small and full of caution, just waiting for a trap door or a
giant tree to swallow him! His fingers run along the glistening rocks,
wondering what type of rocks they even are, but sums it up as yet
another quirky part of this damn nightmare. "Stay close, guys...." He
trudges forward.
Mist? What.. Shit! Shit. "FUUUUU*"THUD! It'd be better, really, if Paige
hadn't abruptly clutched Jono to her, before falling ten feet to a stone
floor - his added weight atop her, though negligable, didn't help. Ow.
"Get. Off." She resquests softly.
Well, Jono didn't do too good at the fall, either. He'll prolly be
bracked, somewhere. He grunts in mental pain, as he climbs off of Paige,
or more, rolling over to his back off of her.
Terry hops back to her feet, her eyes narrowing in the direction of the
voices, "Paige? Tha' y'?" The redhead wipes her hand across her face.
Jubilee arches a brow up in curiousity. What? Did Terry say Paige..?
grrr.. Who invited the /other/ Hayseed?!? She's supposed to be somewhere
on her back getting boffed by her flame-face boyfriend! Now now,
Jubilee, we shouldn't be delving into homocidal thoughts at the moment.
Though the idea of getting that.. that.. WENCH through this place and
not benig able to just leave her to her mental break down when she
enters her /own/ room just pissed Jube. "Do we follow 'em, sarge?" she
asks Sam as Terry and Gwen go off.
"P-Paige?" Sam mumbles, peering into the cavern before him as he hears
the farmiliar voices. His pace quickens as he moves toward the voices,
straining his eyes to even catch a /glimpse/ of his sister. He's in
somewhat of a debate. He's happy she's here, but he's not. It only means
she has to go through all the hell they will have to, but having here
here at his side....Bah. Finally reaching her, he grins widely, wrapping
his arms around her, "Paige! Thank gawd yoah alraght! How? How did ya's
get heah...." He pushes away from her, looking her over to make sure
there are no more injuries then a few bumps and scrapes. He throws a
glance to Jono, giving him a strained smile and a nod as he looks back
to his sister, "Ah dunno where or why we're heah, but we are. Some sot
o' gam n' we have ta get ta the top o' the towah or else she keeps Ev."
And who would 'she' be? The supreme bitch of all bitches, Lishka. Then a
thought occurrs to him, is this all an illusion? Is his sister really
here? Raaaaahne.
Ow. Ooph. Ugh. As Sam hauls Paige to her feet, she blinks and is hugged!
And then it registers. "Sam! Damn, boy, ya scared me t' death. One
minute Jon's playin' guitar an' then all HELL broke loose. We came
downstaihs an.." And she kicked some of Jubilee's presents around, but
SHUSH! don't say anything, "An' found the game an' read that cahrd an'
all, an- and then the damn BITCH that makes Jubilee look sweet as
momma's apple pie started in! An... Now weah heah." She looks over to
Jono, and offers him a concerned look. "Ya'll right, darlin'?"
(..thanks fer th'c'ncern, Sam...) Jono thinks to himself, rather darkly,
as he sits up, placing his hands on his knees for a minute before he
pushes himself up. He nods to Paige, as he glances around. Through the
neck of his turtleneck, a dull yellow light glows, as he glances around,
trying to figure out what this Ice Queen has in store.
Terry whews, more firepower. "Well Glad t' see y' an' ain't a' th' same
time." She pushes her hands through her hair, "Wha' she done t' y' s'
fair?" PLease let it be something that can get people to forget her
problems and secrets.
Gwen Namura says "I am still not impressed. Let's move, people. That
fire-wall, mebbe?"
*AHEM!* Said Lesser Bitch, Jubilee, crosses her arms over her chest and
silently glares at Paige from where she stands a good number of feet
behind Sam and /away/ from Corn (get it?! Corn, Husk, Get it?! No?
Okay.) and Furnace Face. One of her little orbs of light floats around
with Sam, and a few more join that one as he comes to the pair of New
Mutants, the trio of lights hovering around them to give a good amount
of light to their area. The rest of the lights are joined by more,
somewhat smaller ones which Jube creates and sends to different spots
around the cavern to light it up in every corner as best she can. Still,
managing so many orbs is a little difficult, so the more orbs she makes
the dimmer the general lighting is. But if it allows them to see into
the shadows better, it's worth it.
Grrrr! A cat-fight is the /last/ thing Sam needs or wants to deal with
at this point, so watch out. "Paige, shut yoah mouth. Jube, yoah keeping
yoah's shut, keep it that way." He had to get that out of his system, he
refuses to deal with the squabbling woemn while he tries to get himself
and the team out of this place alive. He moves forward, staying at the
head of the group. "Keep close n' Gwen n' Jube's will keep up with the
lights." His hands stay up and ready, anticiapting an ambush as he moves
deep within the cavern. Every now and then he glances back to make sure
the team is following in toe, saying the occasional, "Hurry up!" to the
stragglers.
Drip-drop. The sound of water dripping from rock and hitting more
rock. Jubilee's light orbs do help eleminate the greenish glow to the
area, which kind of takes out the spookiness. Now what memories where
these Caverns taken from? Easy. Almost all of you have been to at least
one cave in your life, or have seen pictures, and these are taken from
those. Just mixed together. And not impressed Gwen? God, what does it
take to impress you? Tree roots suck you into the ground, giant bats
with wings spans of over one hundred yards fly at you, and you're not
impressed? Shesh, woman. You're just gonna make Lishka want to try and
impress you more. But besides the drip-dropping of water, there really
is nothing that strange about this cave. It smells like a cave, it looks
like a cave, and nothing is jumping out at you. Perhaps Lishka's taking
a five minute break after having to deal with Jono and Paige.
Paige rankles quietly at being told off, but never hte less she's quiet
- if for once reaon: Ev's sake. She paces quietly being the rest,
looking over at Jono quietly. "Ya ahlraht, darlin'?" She murmurs, before
searching within the expanse of the light that Gwen and The Lesser Bitch
provide. Well. Yeah. Nothin' interestin'. Yet. Got knows what's next.
Jono walks along, although begrudgingly. It doesn't look like he's in
any mood to be adding his light to the situation. He keeps his jacket
zipped up tight, his turtleneck up, and his hands in his pockets. He
follows behind Paige, nodding slightly at her question.
Terry follows Sam, "Y' sure abou' this Country?" The red head pushes her
hands through her hair.
Gwen Namura observes, "If Sam's country, who's a li'l bit Rock and
Roll?" She follows, providing light. Whee! Light, she provides!
Jubilee just follows along, bringing up the rear. She doesn't seem
phased by Sam's telling her to /keep/ a lid on it, even though she had
no intention of arguing with Paige. Why waste the breath? Besides, it'll
only stall them, and they need to keep /moving/, for Ev. She's gotta
keep the Ice Princess's grubby paws off her man! She does look a little
smug that /she/ 'took the high road' and Paige resorted to 'petty
insults'. It's a shallow victory, but you take what you can get. All the
orbs floating around the party advance with them, as per Jubilee's
mental order. And she's starting to get a tiny headache..
"What? Ya want ta go back out n' fight the bat? Ah sure as heck don't."
Sam says towards Terry, turning his head back to her as he continues on
forward. Not a good idea while you're in a cave, Sammy. *Thump* His foot
latches onto a stray rock, tripping him and sending him stumbling
forward into the depths where the light does not shine. "Fuck...." You
can hear being mutterd as he bacjtracks toward the group, blushing
slightly and carrying on with the light. "Don't laugh, just move." He
says blankly, hands slipping into his coat pockets to provide some sort
of warmth.
Oh, Sam, you're such a clutz. But be happy that the shadow didn't
swallow you or anything. Nope. Instead, an instant after he says "Don't
laugh, just move." a soft silvery laugh comes from up ahead, echoing
around. At first one might think it's Lishka, but it sounds somewhat
like a man's laugh. The light from Jubilee's glowing orbs and Gwen's
golden fields, begins to refract off the rock crystals around, throwing
more light around, and hense, making more light. The closer they get to
the "fire-wall", the louder the laughter seems to get. But strangely, no
one is there. Or at least no one in sight.
Paige trudges along in sullen silence, turning a concerned look Sam's
way when he falls. "Ya'll right Sammy?" She asks - laugh? Nope, not
right now.
Jono doesn't seem to give a damn when Sam falls. He's looking morose, he
is, as a dull yellow glow illuminates his face. Brown eyes flick to Sam
enough to see if the man is alright, before them resume glancing around.
Terry smirks as she watches Sam, after all maybe he should be sure what
she's discussing next time. Irish takes another couple careful steps,
hooray for just happening to consider hiking boots a integral part of
the clothes. "Who's tha' na'???"
Gwen Namura says "Elvish thief! Spread thy pointed ears, and hark, tell
us from whence such an odd sound, so grating on the ears, doth emit?"
Jubilee wrinkles her nose at the sound of the laughter and she can't
help but grin and giggle a little at Gwen's antics. "Right away, oh
Glorious Paladin. Or are ya still a Ranger?" A few of the orbs of light
melt together into one large one to provide brighter light, and it zooms
out towards the where the laughter comes from. If nothing is found,
she'll start to slowly float the ball along the length of the wall.
Sam hears the voice, flinching slightly as he peers around, eyeing the
flaming wall? Yep, your eyes aren't playing trick on you, Sammy. He
tries to ignore the voice, just stands in the now lit cavern and peers
around, waiting for something to happen that will take them to the next
stage.
Sammy, Sammy, Sammy. Don't get so close to the wall, lil' boy.
There's a strange... twisting in the air and suddenly there's a
extremely tall man standing in front of Sam. Not just a man. One of
those familar men. The slivery laugh is not from this man, but he is who
has appeared. Now who has appeared? Why, Emplate of -course-. He reaches
towards Sam, trying to grab his head quickly into his hands, the little
fanged mouths makeing a icky sound as he tries to take a literal bite
out of one cute southern bucko.
He shouldn't be here! It's too soon! TOO SOON! Paige hears a sound that
she's only heard in her nightmares, and turns wild eyed on the thing
that's about to *eat* her brother. "NO! YA CAN'T GODDAMN HAVE HIM!" She
shrieks as there's another *SHRIP* as Paige abandons her skin behind
her, and a feral roar as whatever Paige has turned into in the darkness.
"YA CAN'T *HAVE* HIM! HE'S NOT FOAH YOU!" She howls, as she goes to rain
holy wrath on the figment of her tormentor.
Getting hit by raining flesh, Jono goes into latern mode. As Paige
screams, his jacket is zipped down, almost busting the zipper, as his
shirt bursts forwards, reddish yellow energy flaring violently outwards.
His fists clench as the cavern is lit up by the unnatural glow, trying
to find a target.
"Wha' in god's name is tha'?" Terry yelps, she's starts to open her
mouth to release a scream a sonic blast towards the attacker then she
remembers where she is.
Gwen Namura drops down to one knee, a heavily armored golden projection
forming on her right arm, like a tube, as she fumbles with her fanny
pack. "Give me a clear field of fire. I'm not sure I can do this." She
moves something from her fanny pack to the odd construction and
concentrates further.
"No!! Stand down!" Jubilee yells out to Jono, Gwen, and Terry, but not
to Paige. Why? "This is /Paige's/ fight! This is part of her nightmare!
She's got to get through it herself!!" Just like Terry had to get
through her little corner of hell. Though she knows there's hardly a
chance Jono will listen to her, she's /hoping/ Gwen and Terry will. The
only thing they can do to help Paige is support her - but /she/ has to
take this fight.
The illusion of Emplate glances up to see Paige and actually
grins, almost as if seeing his favorite plaything running towards him.
The next thing he does is rather quick and... uh... well... he doesn't
take a bite out of Sam's head, instead he just claws at it, almost as if
trying to leave groves in his face. Poor Jo's boyfriend's face is
getting all messed up! Waaaaaaaaaah! Then after that - if he is
successful - he aims to literally throw the blonde leader towards his
charging sister, perhaps an attempt to distract or slow her down.
"ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" Sam /yelps/ out in sheer pain as he is suddenley
ambushed by the one creature he has wanted to /kill/ since the day Paige
returned. The pain is immense, even though it is all an illusion, blood
begins to trickle down his face and head as Emplate literally tears his
face with all those lil' fangs. Falling to his knees and clutching the
top of his head, Sam just groans in pain, the sharp waves sending his
vision off center. The room begins to blurr and turn red from the blood
trickling over his eyes, meaning any attempt at fighting back with his
powers is gone. It's up to you guys, Sammy's out and injured. Walk it
off! Is what most would say, but the combination of the pain and and the
surprise makes Sam all but incapable of defending himself and fighting
back. Ow, ow, ow, ow. Then, he's picked up off the ground and /thrown/
through the air at his sister. Gah.
Sorry, Sam, but if you're over *here* and he's over *There* then Paige
isn't too worried. In fact, one clawed hand BATS Him away as he's tossed
at her, and continues on her course, body looking like something out of
H. G. Giger's worst nightmares (or wet dreams, depending on what you
think of him.) Aliens? Tame. Spieces? Feces. This is Paige when she's
been pushed by the one thing that will get an instant, extreme reaction:
Emplate. After casually *batting* Sam's tossed form out of the way (As
gentle as she can) she goes to eliminate the threat as efficiently as
possible - by ripping him into itty-bitty pieces. You strike out with
her worst nightmare - and she *becomes* a nightmare.
Energies swirl within Jono's chest, violent yellows, reds, and oranges.
But he holds back. Can't take the chance of hitting Paige..
Terry isn't screaming no way. Not in a cave, that will do nothing but
amplify her abilities out of her control. She pops up and puts herself
in Sam's way to break his fall, "Ooof" or something similar comes from
her as she keeps her eyes on the battle gasping out, "He's not real! Y'
ken beat him!" She takes up the words that worked in her little hell
hole.
Gwen Namura pauses, the almost bazooka like contraption stuck to her
shoulder. She freezes, as her mind ticks over Jubilee's message. "You're
right! She's right! It's Paige's fight!"
Jubilee is quick to Sam's side, though not close enough to even make an
attempt at catching him. Probably for the best, as Sam's lanky form
would have just plowed into Jubilee's small frame. Wherever he lands,
she's there in a second. "Sam! Are you okay?" She quickly goes about
checking first for signs of consciousness, then injuries.
*WHAP* TO the side Sam is batted, thankfully into Terry's awaiting arms.
His hands cover his face as the blood seeps through the cracks of his
fingers, making his vision a blanket of red. Ick. A few moans and groans
are heard as he is set down, still covering his face and trying to
gather his thoughts.
Oooooh, Paige, dear, you need to be more careful. The more you
turn into nightmares, the more the nightmare consumes you. Emplate on
the other hand, does not appear worried. He looks as if one of his
favorite snacks is coming home to the mouths on his lil' hands. And do
you know how hard tearing an illusion into itty bitty pieces will be?
Expecially when Jubilee is wrong. You are not here to fight your fears.
You are hear to face them. Fighting and facing are two different things.
The illusion of the evil, strange looking man grabs towards the charging
lass, trying to make a grab for her face with one of his hands, while
his other hand moves to try and grab at her arm, all the while he says
in his voice, "Welcome home, child."
Paige's still-blue eyes widen as she attempts, lamely, to skid to a
stop, to avoid that grasping hand, and instead, slows just enough that
she's easier to catch. As she's grabbed, she howls - which is soon
turned to choked gagging as that second mouth seized her face, getting
into the armored plates with the scrape of bone on bone, as he takes her
as easily as he ever did, holding her seemingly helpless in his grip, in
that sick paradoy of a kiss. Could Paige have failed so easily?
Terry runs her fingers carefully over Sam's face, "Lacerations..." She
tears a section of her sleeve off, pushing the young hayseed's fingers
off his head as she presses the cloth to him, "Bleed like a stuck pig
when th' head gets injured." Her eyes watch the battle with her concern.
Gwen Namura crouches next to Terry. "Here... Antiseptic and gauze." She
passes the first aid section of her pack over as she returns her bullet
to the socket.
And does Jubilee care that Sam is bleeding like a stuck pig? Well, yes,
but you must understand - they're fighting for Ev!! Jube's boyfriend!
The guy she /loves/! So her main focus right now is Paige conquering
this fear. She'd /hopped/ it would be conqured by Paige ripping the guy
to shreads... apparently, that's not gunna happen. So lets go with what
she did for Terry! Jubilee yells out "Fight it, Paige! He's not /real/!
He can't hurt you unless you /let/ him! Did you come all this way just
to cop out like some wuss?! Ev's /depending/ on you!!" As much as she
hates to say all that, /detests/ to have to /help/ Paige, Ev's life is
at stake. .. besides, in her heart of hearts, no matter how much she
loathes the girl, Jube doesn't want to see her hurt all screwed up by
that jerk again. One human conserned about another, and all that. SHe
gives Sam's shoulder a small shake and says to him "C'mon, she'll listen
to you!"
Sam pushes the cloth from his face so he can see what transpires before
him. Yes, concern for his sister always seems to get in the way of the
task at hand. "D'Don't...hurt..'er!" Sam yells, voice cracking as he
winces from the lacerations on his face. His amrs reach out, a gesture
to the rest to go and help his sister. His fear for her being hurt
clouds his mind, making him fail to see that this is Paige's fear and
she needs to /face/ it. Egad.
The Illusion of Emplate just laughs as he "feeds", completely
ignoreing the others around him. All the while the firewall behind
him... moves slightly, flowing a little. Just a little right now. How is
Paige going to face her fear? If Paige doesn't face her fear will they
be stuck on this floor forever?? Will the others have to fight off
Emplate just so she can survive the assualt? What about Sam's face? Did
Lishka break her promise and let Sam be hurt? Ev's gonna be pissed,
thats for sure! Tune in next week. No no no no no. WRONG SHOW! This is a
once in a lifetime thing. No waiting for a week. Plus that would suck
because the gateway home is only open for a week. So, Paigey, What's it
gonna be?
Ever seen a documentary, where a lion will bite and then shake it's head
to tear a chucnk of meat from from the caress of some wounded and slain
gazelle? Now, imagine an inhuman roar of pain, as Paige does exactly
that, shakeing her head violently within Emplate's grasp, her blue eyes
blazing as her hands come up and tear through the robe and then the
armor of her tormentor. Not real? That's snippet of knowledge if what
saves her hear. Only that enables her to continue on her mission of
death and destruction, clawed hands findiing purchase as she rips and
tears, gore splattering against the cold stone walls. Finally, when
finished, she rises, and bared her teeth at the finished corpse before
her, and then turns her head to the side and spits something - a
tongue?! - against the floor, and then pants for breath.
Terry pushes Sam down as she has now dampened the gauze with some of the
antiseptic, "Sammie... she needs t' d' this. Jes' as I did." The girl
starts to swab the bactine over his cuts. "Na' tha's teachin' him wha' a
real kiss is Paige..."
Jubilee blinks, and her eyes widen considerably as she watches Paige
just.. tear so /savagly/ into Emplate.. And she has to keep telling
herself it's not real, he's not real.. to keep herself from passing out
at the sight. Still, she gets a little light-headed as the blood rushes
from her face and her stomach twists in knots.. and when Paige spits out
the tongue? Jube wavers slightly.. "I feel like I'm gunna be sick.." she
mutters under her breath.
An inhuman howl roars from the Illusional Emplate as Paige does
her work. After she spits the tongue out he falls back a little, letting
go of him. He growls under his breath, "You -dare- attack me, child? I
am here to take you back where you belong." Oh, the illusion looks
incredably injured, blood oozing from every tear, and not just blood...
but well... insides too. Ick. Someone watched too many gore movies and
this was drawn from them.
"Fuck. You." is Paige's flat reply. "You're not him. You're that little
elfin cunt's creation." She smirks, and holds up something she torn from
him in her hand - a length of tubing that formerly hung between mask and
chest plate - his breathing apperatus. "If you were him, you'd be
helpless as a child. 'Child'." She tosses it toward the flame wall.
"You're not him."
Terry lets Sam slumber peaceably, so it wasn't far. But if you can use a
very slight sonic wave to make someone feel nice and sleepy oh why not.
After all it let Paige do what she needed. She grins approvingly at
Paige.
Slumber? 'Passed out' seems more like it, the pansy. heh. Jubilee
watches with wide eyes and a pale, slightly green face as Paige
confronts the faux Emplate.. Well.. hope this works.. It did for Terry,
right..? So.. maybe.. Argh.
And Emplate is thrown, landing against the the firewall. This is
where things get weird. Ok, ok, they were already weird. This whole
place is weird. But remember in Super Mario Bros the Movie when Mario
fell through the wall of that cave-like tunnel? Well, it looks like
this. Emplate falls into the wall, and... a loud... !?!?!?Burp!?!?!?
roars through the cavern, echoing. Ok, Lishka's got a sense of humor
after all. Go Paige! You faced your fear! Good girl! With Emplate gone,
the wounds on Sam's face suddenly vanish. Illusions? But Sam won't know
that because he's asleep. But the pain he was feeling is gone now too.
Not even numbed or anything. Just gone. Lishka is keeping her promises.
*SHRIP* Paige shreds through that monsterous skin and turns to look at
the rest of the group, slipping into the command role easily. Her eyes
flicker over everyone here - and Jubilee probably dosen't appreciate the
cold ferocity still in those cold, blue eyes - and then they go down to
Sam. "Time to press on." She states simply. "Jon'll carry Sam. But we
don't have time to waste."
Terry tilts her head as she examines Sam, "Jo'll be pleased." She arches
her eyebrow as Paige slips into control, but messing with the hayseed
doesn't seem like an option of fun at the moment, "Agreed.. we need t'
move on an' get t' Ev.." She stands as Jono takes Sam and glances to
Jubes, "Ready?"
No, Jube ain't stupid enough to mess with Paige at the moment. She might
not appricate that look, but she does know that the chances of her
getting ripped to shreads as well right now if she puts up an arguement
are REALLY good. She nods her head and pulls herself up to her feet,
glancing around to try and see where the door or stairs or whatever will
be.. or just another way /out/..
The inverted Niagra Falls wall - also known as the fire wall, by
Gwen - suddenly -really- begins to flow upward. The rock seems to turn
to liquid as it begins to flow towards the ceiling, revealing a large
doorway underniegth that leads into a white cloud.
Terry glances upwards and just goes.
Cloud Escalator -- Tower of Illusion -- Niflheim
Yet another strange, impossible place. It's an escalator, like
from a mall, except that's not the strange part. The strange part is the
air. The air is thick with mist, impossibly thick. Someone could easily
get lost in this. Visability is only two feet. At least you don't have
to walk, because the escalator is taking you up. But there's another
thing. Do you really want to trust this place at all? For all you know
it could be taking you up really high just to throw you off a cliff.
Jubilee takes the escelator up with the rest of them until they reach
whatever top there is, and frowns slightly, looking over towards the
sleeping Sam.. "Paige.." she says almost tenitivly, wanting to make sure
the girl knows she's not gunna challenge her, just gunna make a
/suggestion/. "Maybe we should.. Like.. rest a little. Sam's still out
cold and it's just gunna make this harder lugging him around. We might
need him in the next room."
Paige's hard blue eyes gentle out as she looks down at her brother.
"Yeah. Yoah right." She rubs tiredly at her eyes as all that feirceness
and rage has drained away, leaving her pale and wan and tired-seeming
herself. "Least a cloud-floor will be nahce an' soft." She drawls, and
looks down the escalator, before looking onward at the places above.
"Yeah. Rest sounds good."
Terry nods as she settles on the escalator, "Dammit I was totally
ineffectual back there." She yawns.
As if on cue, the escalator stops, making a jerking sound as it
halts. Lishka's willing to let you all rest. The longer you all rest,
the longer she can "play" with Ev up in her room. Hehehehehehehehe.
Plus, have you guys thought about what you're going to eat? Or drink?
Maybe next time you see Lishka you should make some demands.
Jubilee nods her head a little, glad Paige didn't just bite her head off
and spit it out.. she blinks as the ecalator jerks to a stop and braces
herself on the stair infront of her before sitting herself down, sighing
a little.. Yeah, kinda soft.
(
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