an end is in sight.QUICK LINKS
WORLD JUMP # 4: THE HOROLOGIUM.
WORLD JUMP # 4: EVENT POST.
MOD QUESTIONS
GENERAL, THE MONSTER
SIGNUPS
KILL THE MONSTER, COLLECT AND CONTAIN THE CIRCLE, YOUR IDEAS HERECongratulations Circle Members. An end is in sight. With the information you have gathered and the sacrifices you have made, you have just enough knowledge on what to do to try and rid the universe of this horrible monster once and for all. You have decided to split into two teams: kill the monster, and collect the bodies. Your strategy and your assistance will make a difference, though how much of one you don't know until you try. THINGS TO NOTE:
➜ Congratulations! You have succeeded in killing the monster (aka, enough of the Circle signed up for monster hunting! Congratulations!)
➜ The monster itself will not be NPC'd by the modteam. Your team may NPC the monster (and, subsequently, kill it) however you wish. All of the powers of the monster (psychological manipulation, speed, and the like) will still be in play. However, characters on the Bridge discovered certain things. Use as you wish.
➜ Regular Astoria powers have returned as status quo.
➜ Both teams can interact with each other, as they have learned enough about the belly of the ship to not get quite as lost.  MEETING UP.The members of the Circle who went down below into the belly of the ship have returned. They are battered, bruised, and terrified . . . something attacked them down there, and while many of them may not be able to tell you what it is, it is certainly something terrible.
But as people begin to mingle, and interact, you begin to notice something. Not everyone who was down there came back up. Where are the remaining members of the Circle? What happened to them? You fear the worst, but as members of the Circle begin to talk, maybe you have some glimmer of hope.
Maybe, against all odds, some of them made it.
PROMPT IDEAS:
➜ Members of the Circle who were down below are beat up pretty badly. . . . but then again, so are members of the Circle who stayed on the Bridge. Healers are in desperate need, and so is basic first aid. Rally together, and ensure you all don't die before you go traipsing into the hell that is down below, shall you?
➜ Breaking up into teams is something the Circle feels is necessary. You want revenge, don't you? For not only your fallen comrades, but for being attacked in the first place. You want whatever that thing is to die, and figuring out how to do it seems to be the next thing on the Circle's agenda. Members who were on the Bridge uncovered some clues as to what the monster is capable of . . . maybe putting some heads together can figure out a good plan as to how to defeat it.
➜ Or, maybe, you just need a break. Setting up a base camp at the top of the elevator shaft seems like a good idea, doesn't it? Rest, recuperate, and take a breather. Try to ignore the voices in your head. Keep the madness at bay, while you figure out what to do. Or, maybe, find a shoulder to cry on. You've been through a lot. Rest.
➜ After the fighting, the Circle will need to rejoin, and recoup. Report the findings of going down below. Report about the dead. Feel free to create your own prompts and threads throughout this week. You're going to need all the support you can get.  TEAM: KILL THE MONSTER.You have decided that despite the dangers you face and the complications of this ship, destroying the monster is your priority. You have teamed up with others who have the same idea as you - you will kill this monster, one way or another. Even when faced with these horrors, you have decided that it is worth it - for revenge, for the safety of the others, or whatever else motivates you.
And you succeed.
THE HUNT:
➜ It lies at the very heart of the ship: the monster’s den is akin to a nesting ground. When you first enter, you’ll note the smell immediately; it’s the repugnant, sharp stench of rotted flesh. The odor is powerful enough to make you gag, and its source is hardly any more pleasant. Underneath the many layers of mangled wiring and discarded possessions are the remains of former crewmates. Watch where you step.
As you begin to draw near the center of the den, your surroundings are suddenly shrouded in darkness. The rumbling vibrations of the ground beneath you cause the entire ship to quake, and if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, you’re likely to discover that wires have begun to snake around your legs and drag you down.
This marks the beginning of what is to come. Because when the den is illuminated once more, the monster towers over you and unleashes a primal screech that shakes the very ship itself.
THE FIGHT:
➜ PHASE 1: The monster will be utilizing a set of attacks Circle members may find themselves familiar with — it lunges forward, using its razor sharp tendons to slash at those within its immediate vicinity. It will be attempt to tear through any limbs within its reach and immobilize you. Your powers will be flickering on and off as well. Be careful! The back of its head appears to be vulnerable, as it delays its attacks for extended periods of time.
➜ PHASE 2: The monster’s attack range has expanded as it hangs from the ceiling and strikes from above. The ground begins to shake violently once more, and you will lose your grip on reality intermittently. Voices and visions plague you — you may find this to be a boon to your strength or a disadvantage, but regardless, the monster will be attempting to slice through as many Circle members as it can in a single sweep. Long range attacks are more likely to throw it off balance and send it hurling towards the ground.
➜ PHASE 3: The monster is aware of its own weakness. It skitters around the walls and spews out a vile, black sludge that webs across the floor. The black sludge will attempt to suffocate and consume you whole once it’s made contact with your skin. The psychological effects are prevalent as well, as you will find yourself paralyzed with fear...yet for some reason, this time the words of another Circle member still have the capacity to bring your back to your senses. Once the fear has left you, the sludge can be peeled off through sheer force. The monster is getting desperate — cracks begin to form in its skull.
Once the skull has shattered entirely, the cries of the dead will echo throughout the entirety of the ship. The monster disintegrates into the very same black sludge it had spewed out, threatening to flood the room before you make your escape.
It’s over.
And yet even when you leave, you can’t help but feel like something is watching you.  TEAM: COLLECT THE CIRCLE.A good number of Circle members have been left down in the lower level, as their teams had to retreat as quickly as they could to safety. Retrieving their bodies will be an arduous process, slow and cumbersome, but with magic down below seeming off, how can you tell if Astoria will be able to bring them back if you leave them down below?
Each team will need a couple of members - one to act as look-out for any activity of the monster, one to two to help carry the dead weight of the body back up the elevator shaft, and one at the top level to help receive them. Coordinate, and work together . . . you have to, if you have any hope of Astoria being able to bring them back. If she can bring them back.
PROMPT IDEAS:
➜ The silence that has overtaken the ship is deafening. Their corpses have been hidden away in the shadows, the crooks and crannies of the ships, isolated rooms and the corners you’ve been avoiding all this time. Who will you find, and what will you do? The trip to the elevator shaft will require at least one other pair of hands.
➜ But once you find the bodies . . . you hear voices. Again, you think, but it seems to be the voices of the members of the Circle who have died. Death reverberates throughout these halls, and you could almost swear you hear the voices of your fallen comrades telling you to run. Get out. But you can't possibly leave without them, can you? You can't really leave without finishing the mission . . . can you?
➜ The bodies of fallen Circle members have been gathered and lined up along the Bridge. You’ve won, but the feeling of loss permeates the air. The bodies will need to be tended to and stowed away appropriately. But can you bear to deal with them, let alone look at them? Their bodies are in pretty rough shape, depending on how they died . . .what in the hell did they run into?
➜ A makeshift morgue has been established. It's an unoccupied room on the ship, and appears to have been a storage room long, long ago. The bodies are in the process of being cleaned up and sanitized accordingly — there's still work to be done. But even in these times, it's necessary to keep your morale in check, isn't it? Work together, make sure the Circle members are ready to go back to the Temple . . . god, is Astoria even listening? Where is she? And why are they still on this damn ship?
mod note. ➜ The Test Drive Meme for the April application round is being pushed back until March 24th. We want you to be able to obtain some level of wrap-up in the Horologium before we launch you back into the Temple. Therefore, the Circle members will be on the Horologium until March 24th, which is the end of World #4 and the beginning of the TDM.
➜ Because of this, characters will return to the Temple 3 days later than normal. If characters have been through a few jumps and would notice this, they can.
➜ The Game HMD will also be posted on March 24th, to give current players the opportunity to give feedback on the world and the game writ-large!
➜ EMP/ATP will go up as scheduled on March 18th.
➜ Reserves will open as planned March 24th at 9:00 PM EST, as will applications April 1st at 9:00 PM EST.
Be careful in the dark.
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acatalepsy_logs2019-03-17 09:29 am
Barabas | OPEN (plus one closed prompt)
[When people start returning from their excursion below, Barabas leaves the bridge to go see who needs help and who has made it back in one piece. He looks like he's been through the ringer too. Bruises and lacerations mark most of his visible skin, and the haunted look and dark circles under his eyes speak to how little sleep he's gotten.
But anyone coming up, especially familiar faces, will be met with a relieved smile.]
You've made it. Are you all right? We couldn't reach any of you on the communicators. And the things we found...
[They weren't good. But then. Well.] ...more people went down than this. What happened? Were are the others?
[ 2. Body Recovery ]
[Once it's become clear that there are people down below who have not made it out alive, there's no choice at all. Barabas may not be thrilled about venturing down, but he's not planning on leaving their comrades behind.
And since the buddy system is always the best option (right?) maybe he's found you as a partner to head down into the dark. He's in his half-form, seven feet of bipedal hyena monster. The better to sniff out the missing (and dead) and to transport them up.
But down in the belly of the ship, everything feels wrong still.] ...there's something this way.
[ 3. Morgue ]
[A few trips down and up, and Barabas, back in his human form, has settled himself into the makeshift morgue that has propped up. He's grabbed whatever sheets and fabric he can to cover the many and multple dead, though he's taken care to attach a slip of paper with a name to as many as he can identify.
He's keeping a list as well, a somber but necessary accounting of who has been found fallen, so they can figure out who is still missing.
Anyone arriving, he'll ask, quietly,] Were you looking for someone? [He'll help if he can.]
[ 4. CLOSED TO MAES & LOTOR ]
[Barabas is in his half-form again, towering over his companions, all teeth and claws and red eyes that see well enough even in the low light that he feels at least a little less vulnerable.
He's probably fooling himself on that count.
They're preparing to head down, and he looks between Maes and Lotor. The former he knows well and trusts without reservation. The latter is a face he's seen, but hardly someone he's familiar with. But none of that matters right now. They're in this together.
He looks between the two of them, speaking clearly despite the fact that his voice is always half into a growl in this form.] Do you have anything that belonged to the people you're looking for?
[He's not a wolf, but his sense of smell is still strong enough that he can probably track them down if he can catch a scent.]
[ 5. Wildcard ]
[ Hit me with something else! Feel free to PM me here or hit me on plurk at
4
Why did he let him go down there and not stick with him? Maes glances between Lotor and Barabas and realizes neither of them have been below. He shakes his head at his friend.]
You can try...when I was with Shiro down there he mostly spoke of smelling blood and rot. It's...not an odor that is going to be easy to smell through. At least, I imagine that would be the case.
[He doesn't know exactly how heightened senses of smell work. However, he knows even blood hounds can lose the trail sometimes.]
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he should have gone with her, he should have gone with her, he should have -- ]
Allura does not travel with anything of great importance, and even if she did, I would not be the one to keep it.
[ being honest, anyway. the paladins would likely have whatever tiny trinket she has, and he lacks any article of clothing she has. ]
But I imagine if we follow the signs of the fighting, we will surely find something, if not our comrades.
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He realizes that's likely optimistic. But all right.]
...while I adore Shiro, I'm not sure I trust the nose of a metal lion. But that aside, that's fine. We'll make do with searching as you say.
[Follow the fighting. Hope for the best.] Then I suppose we're ready to go.
[Make their way down into the dark, down whatever paths have been laid by the people who've come and gone before and already.]
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1
What we found wasn't candy or sunshine, either. [Her tone flat and doesn't quite carry the same hint of underlying cruelty or snark. She's tired, so very tired but there's work to be done. Information to trade among other things. Though she can answer a few things before moving to slowly lean against the opposite wall.]
...We were split up and hunted. The creature down below toyed with our fears and made them a reality, just like my magic back home does. [And certain demons, but she doesn't say that. Instead she answers the last question.] Either they are on their way up, or dead.
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We found... evidence of what happened before. A recording and a few logs. That creature...
[He trails off when she says 'dead' though because. He can't be surprised, but it is not good news.]
Do you need a healer?
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[She hates this. She's not even phased by the death down below. Her arms still ache dully and she rotates her right at the wrist and elbow as, for an instant, black fur covers it. Not vines. Okay. She can deal with that.]
...In the group I wound up in, our Astoria powers changed. [She looks from her hand to Barabas.] What happened?
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Hunk | Open
[Hunk sits in a corner of the lounge. He needs a break from his time on the Bridge and this is as good a place as any. Riza had designated it as a place to recoup, gather themselves, and heal. Hunk is attempting to do all three. If he sees you come in with any kind of injury, he sets the cards aside and offers a hand.]
Here. Let me.
[Otherwise, if not, Hunk greets you and returns to building a tower out of cards. Unfortunately, his hands seem to be a bit shaky. He never gets higher than about three levels before always causing them to topple over. He sighs.]
There it goes again.
2. Back Down
[With the decision to return to retrieve bodies and possibly deal with the monster, Hunk decides he is NOT staying up in the Bridge this time. Instead he sets up a space right near the elevator shaft, making a rudimentary sign that someone can find him as a healer. It’s not easy trying to make it any kind of welcoming, but he’s taken some towels and sheets from other places and set up barriers. He smiles slightly, recalling the time they’d all built pillowforts in the Temple.
While he waits, he tries to sleep, but he always ends up tossing and turning before waking again barely an hour later. Maybe he could use company into the night, if anyone else is waiting for news…]
3. Death’s Door CW: Dead Characters/Death?
[He should feel relief. They beat that thing. They can go home....right? But the words echo in his head: They’re gone. He knows he should go in, pay some kind of respects to the dead, but he can’t bring himself to move. Actually, come to think of it, he can’t even remember taking a seat on the floor down the hall from the morgue. It had to have been sometime after the news had been given to him. He vaguely recalls seeing bodies...but then his next memory is just of sitting out here in the hallway.
All he knows is he is done. For now, he’s just done and he's never wanted to return home so badly in his life.]
1.
Awake, he hasn't moved from said sofa, but Waver has had one eye idly on Hunk and his card tower. Attempt at card tower, at least.]
Y'know I think I saw a bunk of old checkers pieces and poker chips in here if you want to build something sturdier.
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Not as much of a challenge...dominoes could be fun though. Have you seen anything like that? [He frowns though and then shakes his head.] Never mind. Those would be a little loud. You're trying to rest.
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1 - CW: body horror
He's also covered in a couple badly bandaged cuts -- at least one self inflicted when he had to cut various body parts that should not have been there off and out and. It's. Not great.
So when Hunk speaks up, Quentin certainly stops to talk.] Let you? Are... are you a healer?
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I thought it was healing hugs at first...but apparently it's just any kind of physical contact.
[He gives Quentin a once over.]
You'll probably want to sit down...it looks like you have a lot of injuries.
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3
If Astoria has the power to pluck us from other worlds and give us new abilities, perhaps she can do something to help them, even now.
[She doesn't really know what the extent of the enigmatic witch's abilities are, but it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility to her.]
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Yeah...yeah I've been thinking about that too. It's just...we haven't heard from her at all. Why hasn't she said anything since this all started happening? Why let so many of the people she wanted to help her just...just die?
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2
She didn't expect to see a makeshift infirmary. Though she recognizes the boy resting beside it. She'd offered some assistance to Riza's attempts of an infirmary in the lounge as well, even making some homemade saline solution for open wounds before going back down again. She'd frown if she wasn't wearing a beak instead of any other face the other witch allowed her to have, so instead she lets the shape go.
She's so tired. While this time no poisonous vines were involved, she still aches and is covered in cuts. Definitely seen better days, yet she doesn't move to wake him. Instead she pulls at her pack slung over her back and retrieves a bottle of water she'd snagged from a safe room down below; placing it beside him. He looks as though he could use it and the sleep, and she knows enough to keep her own injuries in check.
Morrigan sits opposite him and starts wrapping any of the wounds that reopened on the way back up. (Thank you, safe rooms.) Though one on her shoulder causes her to hiss. ...Oops?]
2
Now, that wasn't so much the case.
It felt like every time he closed his eyes and started to doze he would start to hear voices. Or, sometimes, his mind would decide now was the perfect time to remind him of the Bridge blackouts and the shadows clawing at his arms and side. Any one of these thins might have caused him to wake or perhaps it was the sound of the hiss.
Whatever the case, Hunk twitches and forces his eyes open. He's not quite startled, thankfully sleeping with Keith and Shiro had brought him some peace of mind, but it's not a peaceful waking either. Hunk looks around, his hand bumping the water bottle before he notices Morrigan.]
Oh....oh it's you. How long was I out?
[He yawns and then picks up the bottle she'd set beside him. He takes off the cap and pours a little into his hand, before quickly splashing that on his face. As he blinks the water out of his eyes he finally notices all of the wounds. He sits up straighter.]
You're hurt.
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Ikaruga | OPEN
[Ikaruga hasn't been here long enough to truly know anyone well. In fact, she hasn't even been formally introduced to a significant portion of the Circle yet. Despite that, it's only courteous and polite to help with recovering the bodies of those who were killed by the monster.
She doesn't know if Astoria can do anything for the people who are dead, but if she has the abilit to pluck people from universes and bestow powers, there's a chance something can be done. And if not, at least they can be recovered and their bodies treated with dignity rather than left rotting in the hallways of a barely functioning ship.]
I will stand guard and fight the monster if needed. I have combat training and combative powers.
[Not to mention, she's built for speed rather than brute strength. She's rather short, and only looks taller because of the shoes she wears. Literally deadlifting a person who's probably heavier than her and carrying them through this large ship sounds like a miserable task she's ill suited for.]
(ooc: If anyone needs their character's body to be found, send me a PM or message me on Plurk - FightingSpirit.)
2. Vengeance is Ours (monster hunting group)
[She's disappointed that her original magic is gone once more, but it was nice to see proof that it wasn't gone forever. Hunting this monster would be much easier with it than without. Or perhaps not. If her mind wasn't playing tricks on her (a distinct possibility given the monster's powers), the creature had been deliberately avoiding her. It taunted her from a distance with the voices of her loved ones, but always stayed just out of range of her magic.
She's curious if that will still be the case. Perhaps it's time to put her Astoria granted powers to a true test.
There's a sizable group going to hunt down the monster, and this time, Ikaruga suspects everyone will be more inclined to keep together. Both to prevent further losses, and to increase the likelihood that they'll successfully slay the monster.]
We should travel in small groups and try to corner it.
Ren Suzugamori | OPEN + 1 closed
[Ren is a little battered from his time down below - mostly bruised and exhausted, he managed to at least avoid getting slashed by the monster - but he hasn't sought a healer just yet, mostly because some part of him doesn't really want to. His particular group came up with close to half the people they went down with, and he'd really rather not think about that too hard, because it just makes the hard knot of cold rage in his stomach tighten all the more each time he does.
He does know he needs to recover at least a little bit, though, so he can be found lying back on one of the chairs in the lounge, hands behind his head and watching the roof. Compared to the fidgeting he often does when forced to remain in one place, he's almost worryingly still, though he turns his head towards anyone he hears come in. There's something deliberately empty about the expression for a split second before he smiles and switches back into a more typically absent manner.] Sorry, this one's taken...
[He sits up, though, pulling up half a cup of water that he'd started drinking and forgotten about, and offering it towards them in case the rationing is stopping them from getting some of their own. While he can't get rid of the monster up here, he might as well be helpful to whoever's left.] Do you need anything?
--
[b: bitter reunions (closed to barabas, cw: blood, dead bodies)]
[Ren is more than prepared to go down into the darkness again - or so he thinks. Even without his usual powers, he has some level of resilience to mind games considering his past, so he sighs in annoyance again as the voices start to come back, strides through the now unpleasantly familiar halls with intent.
He's mostly trying to ignore the occasional...bits and pieces he catches in his peripheral vision, smears of blood and sprawled forms bent into impossible shapes. It's only going to throw him off or make him angrier, and he needs neither right now. But a bright plume of yellow, however stained with red, makes him stop when he picks it up out of the corner of his eye, and he waits a solid few seconds before he turns, very slowly, to walk over to the form and bend down alongside it.
It's unmistakeable that Yang has been dead for some time, but very gently and gingerly, Ren rolls her over, pulls her body up from the floor. We'll watch each other's backs - the words echo bitterly in his head now as he dips it in some show of mourning, his hair hiding whatever expression is on his face.]
I'm sorry. [It's murmured, but still echoes faintly in the empty space, and so does the sound of movement approaching his position. Ren's head turns sharply, even as he shifts into something of a protective stance - if it's the creature coming back again, he's prepared to try and rend it apart himself before he lets it do anything further to Yang, and his slitted pupils narrow in a way that makes the focused, chilling expression on his face look almost demonic as he waits to see whether it's friend or enemy.]
--
[c: the nest (team kill the monster, cw: decaying bodies and general grossness probably)]
[Ren hasn't employed his powers just yet, because he's well aware now that he has a time limit on them, and it'd be an incredibly bad idea to risk wasting that before they even find the monster. But the disgusting strains of a large amount of rotting flesh are impossible to miss coming into the scent of the air, and the room ahead looks like something of a nest, with the amount of tangled wiring and...possessions that appear to be within it.
With no hesitation, Ren takes a sharp breath in, and his form shifts, taking on a tiny bit more musculature and a great deal of pointed black armour, blue light lines on it glowing in the darkness. For all the innocent airs Ren has put on in front of most people he's met before now, the form of the dark knight becomes him perfectly, and he seems completely at ease in it, focused intently on the room before them.]
It's about time...a shame we have to give it the dignity of killing it where it lives. [His tone is cold and imperious, nothing at all like anything he's expressed towards anyone here before now. There's no question that however blase he might have been before coming down here, he wants this thing dead.]
--
[d: wildcard]
[[For anything else, feel free to hit me up at
b
It's not his first trip down, not the first glimpse of death that he's found.
Ren will indeed find a monster approaching, though not the monster of the ship. Instead it's likely a familiar, if beastly, face. Barabas is in his werehyena form, but somehow the dismay is apparent on his face is apparent anyway.]
Ah... [A soft, distraught sound.] She's fallen as well.
[So many have...]
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For the moment, though, he dips his head with a heavy sigh.] I already knew about it.
[His tone is much deeper and more present than he had been at any point they were trying to break down the door, and there's something controlled about it as well.] I was hoping I wasn't going to find anyone I recognised down here, but I suppose when almost half of my group didn't come back up, I should have expected that.
[It seemed the first group had suffered significantly heavier losses than the others, and he can't help but feel a certain bitterness about it.]
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Shiro | Open
[The lounge is the hub of activity now and he is silently thankful for that. He doesn’t want to go into any of the sleeping quarters. The tight enclosed spaces do little put him on edge. He can’t forget the fakes appearing in crew quarters. Shiro sticks to the open public areas, collecting what supplies people have to give for the effort of patching people up. He wants to go back down and retrieve everyone that hasn’t returned.
But logic tells him to tend to the wounded and prepare. His hair is a mess he hasn’t bothered to correct it. He moves more like a cat, ready to turn in an instant. If the damn thing follows them up he will fight it tooth and claw.
He favors his right shoulder over his left. The wound is healed but his shoulder still feels tender. He meets anyone that he sees with a nod and a greeting.] Hey, good to see you. Make sure to check in. We need to know who is here and who isn’t. Looks like we lost more people.
Annihilate - Monster killing Cw: body horror, mentions to trauma, psychological horror
[He has never been more thankful for human senses than when they move slowly into the den of the monster. The sickeningly sweet stench of rot is enough to make him quietly cover his mouth and nose. As a dragon, it would have made his eyes water and spit flame. He picks his way carefully into the area and takes stock of the little details. Discarded wires likely from all over the ship in levels it could access. He can bet it was trying to kill lights all over the ship. Their plan is a hell of a lot more solid than last time. He has backups for however, it goes to hell. Some that won’t be popular and others that fit their mood. He moves lightly, not even wincing as his foot finds a leg of one of the former crew. He barely places his weight on it and steps over it.
The world around them begins to darken just like it had so many times when the monster got close. He keeps moving. Come on...take the bait. Wires slide like snakes over the rotting corpses and around blood stained possessions. They snake towards everyone’s feet and curl around them like shackles. He stops in place as the sensation of being watched presses down on his mind. He keeps his ground as it begins to grind against his thoughts. The whispers in the back of his head sound like a crowd waiting for the kill.
Not today. He lets the wires start to pull down on his legs then his body tears turning to light. It cuts through the darkness in a violet blaze as he reshapes himself into a robotic lion. His engines whine as the rockets in his feet flare and his wings angle down burning with a bright blue fire as he rips himself free. His yellow eyes shine like spotlights. He hovers above the floor with the light of his rockets burning like torchlight. He opens his mouth and the boom of his thunderous roar tears through the quiet.]
Everyone get your lights and get ready! Our first priority is to flood this room with light! We won’t give this monster any chance of escape!
Once again -Aftermath
[His helmet hits the floor of the lounge with a clatter. Two more steps then he can sit down and have a moment to gather himself. He is bleeding but that hardly matters. Shiro runs his hand through his short white hair and walks those two steps. He drops down into the lounge chair and tips his head back. If another crisis comes up he isn’t in any shape to handle it.
At the slightest sound he sits up with a guilty look on his face. He hadn’t just dozed off for a moment, no idea what you’re talking about. To anyone who stayed top side he holds up a hand and forces a smile on his face.] Sorry. Everything alright up here? Nothing happened while we were gone?
[To anyone who went down to help kill the monster he raises his hand and lets it fall. ] Good job down there. If you need help getting patched up or anything give me a minute.
Or two. [He’s so tired his legs are trying to start a revolt.]
Wild card
[Got something else in mind? Hit me up in pm or plurk (skyheron) for plotting. Or just toss something. I am open to a lot.]
Aftermath
He finds Shiro in the chair and there's a ghost of a smile flickering over his features before it's gone. This has been terrible. They've lost so much. Friends. Teammates. But for the moment at least, they've made it. He makes his way close enough that he can reach out to run his fingers through Shiro's hair, looking down at him.]
Looks like you could use some patching up too, baby. [He must be tired if the pet names are slipping in public.] We should find Hunk. [Both for their friend's healing ability and because Keith wants to check in with him.]
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I'll message him in a moment. [He reaches up and tugs at his shoulder. He's tired and his tone is softer, the private tone from when they're alone. Keith isn't the only one slipping up in public.] Sit down, Keith.
The battle's over.
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Monster Killing
And at least they have some plan this time, a strategy that sounds like it could work. If they pull it off.
Shiro calls out -- if you can call it that, given that it echoes silently -- and Quentin nods.] Got it!
[If it can move through the shadows, give it no shadows to escape in. His magic is illusion, but he can certainly do light. He mutters a few lines of rhyme, a song about much happier times, and several small globes of light take shape, globes that he flings into the corners of the room that he can reach, to douse as much shadow as he can.]
Got it. It's not going to leave this room! [A pause and he adds, quieter,] ...hopefully we do though.
cw: body horror, arachnophobia, psychological horror
The metal lion fires and the blast hammers the far wall, lighting up the room. Tremors shake the ship. Quentin's balls of light alight in the corners of the room and bring light to the entire area.
The quaking ship falls silent. A human-sized shadow flows up the wall from between two of rotting corpses on the floor. It twists as the light reveals long bone like appendages stretching out from what might once have been a human body. They make tapping sounds in a rough staccato as it climbs up to the ceiling too fast to be stopped. It hangs there and twists about with a sound like flesh being torn. Its head raises up and a screech pours out of its open mouth.
It makes his blood feel like its turning to ice. Within the sound is a wail and the whispers turn to sobs and screams inside his head. His power flickers off just as the creature launches itself down at them, limbs coming forward to sweep in cutting motions in front of it like scythes.]
cw: body horror, arachnophobia, psychological horror
Cw: body horror, arachnophobia, psychological horror