Golden Gate Empire: Dreams of Grandeur [IC | PG-16]

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Six hostiles detected. Potentially very resilient to damage and very strong physically. No doubt that at the very least I should aim to be careful with them."

 

Rebooting herself after her rough entry into the cooling tunnel, Angelica found out that the entrance to her destination had been sealed. It took her a bit to process what happened but once she established contact with her bots, she realized that the entire Network had been completely reworked, rendering her mapping attempt useless. It left a sour taste in her, but more importantly, it seemed that whoever in charge of the network led her towards an interesting place. Underneath her as the sole exit for her was a pit featuring six unfriendly looking reptile-men, perhaps experiments. There was a considerable distance between her and them, and nothing pushed her to go into the pit immediately. Shaking her head, Angelica sent out a few more of her tassels to place themselves around the way down, where they would merge with the walls.

 

"I pity you. Right now I am doing you a favor so you finally can taste freedom for the first time."

 

Once she finished talking, wires went out of her and landed around her surrounding and as anchors, which gave her a tiny amount of energy comparative to what she should have access to with the Network, but it was enough to power her as she opened up her palms towards the reptiles and fired a huge burst of laser towards them. Immediately after the light faded, the tassels she planted formed barricades through the tunnels in case of the lizards still managing to survive and jumped upwards to attack her. Even if she couldn't block them, she could gauge her strength this way.

 

"You've tasted it, right? Yes, yes indeed. That is the taste of Freedom! Savor it, for it might be the last thing you ever taste."

 

In the meantime, the three dog bots that had been separated by her attempted to map out the area again, and the flying bot lost track of Jack, and roamed the Network aimlessly in an attempt to locate her again.

 

---

[Tesability Black]

~Talis-Eye's POV~

"You are selfish and stupid," Talis-Eye projected towards Kai as the flaming rain began to fall around, able to make sure that they weren't hit or allowed the flames to come close enough to clip against the sphere of invisibility around them. "Why are you even in this thing? Boredom?!"

"Tsk tsk tsk. Maybe try firing that beam that blows holes in the ground," he heard an echo off through the embedded link in the girl's language areas of her brain. Looking towards the false angel, he saw the other look up towards her.

"Are you asking me to destroy the holy ground," they heard, this time only needing certain words to be filled in with regard to understanding. For Shapers, the word 'holy' had no meaning. There was no angels for them, so nothing could be holy. "Perhaps you are correct, sister.  I should cleanse the land in holy flame.  And as your opponent burns, I will render you unconscious in the skies.  But first, I will teach you more of your angelic lineage."

They managed not to make a sound as a pillar nearly clipped against it, the very tip disappearing into the invisibility sphere and prompting it to fly away from the pair.

Talis-Eye flew to the ground, towards one of the holes made by the Artila, ready to take Rawal into the skies...

~Rawal's POV~

Rawal, absorb your other creations and get to the holes! The ground will be destroyed!

While the fact that the Eyebeast tried to practically command him irked him beyond belief, he allowed it to slide for the moment for one specific reason.

He would at least be alive to give them an earful later.

Now's not the time for that.!

Rawal felt the split-second hang on the end of that sentence, as if there was gonna be something added to that but was thought against. A frown on his face, the Shaper raised his hands, a palm facing each Artila before they both began to glow and become smaller.

As Rawal found out early on when he was still an apprentice, when reAbsorbing creations, kill the nervous system first, because the process becomes painful if it's not done. Once each was a small blob of glowing green, they flew towards the Shaper, pushing themselves into his palms and becoming one with him again.

If he survived this, even if he didn't win, he was going to figure out if there were any materials similar enough to what's normally used to make Essence Potions, so that he wouldn't be as screwed in regards to always needing to rest between bouts like this.

As soon as this was done, he bolted, looking up slightly for any holes large enough for him, then looking up fully for the Eyebeast. Upon arriving at one of the holes, he felt something began to lift him up through the hole without hitting his head then bringing him up into the air...and the whole time, he was under Talis-Eye's invisibility.

Watching the aftermath of the falling flames, Rawal shook his head at the sight, thinking he might be in over his head for once...and the only time he's felt that was dealing with the deadly Unbound...

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

Electricity arced from Hack's cubic body and struck into the flying drone that had been spying on Jack. Either the drone was more fragile than it seemed, or there was more to its construction than Jack expected, because as soon as that bolt of electricity struck its metal frame the little bot erupted into a bright explosion, throwing Hack backwards a little bit.

 

Jack had more pressing concerns at the moment, however. The wall she had latched onto began to rotate into itself almost immediately; the cavern filling with the echoing groans of moving machinery. The complex was changing itself, and Jack was caught inside the belly of the beast.

 

"Well, that answers the question on how to get inside," Jack muttered to herself as she examined her surroundings. There was a variety of directions that she could go from here, although none of them sounded too pleasant. There was a ping on her HUD again as Slash detected a small opening from the outside into where Jack was. With those turrets outside and no way for Jack to really do anything about them, Hack and Slash would be spending more time desperately hiding for their lives than mapping the facility. Those two little drones were expensive, and Jack would rather not have to need to replace them just yet. Besides, the fight wasn't over.

 

Jack sent the order to the two drones, and it wasn't long until they squeezed themselves through the small opening and joined her in the indoors. Or... rather, everything was technically indoors since they were inside of a cave in the first place and... this really didn't matter right now. The sound of wind came from the western hall; likely a ventilation system. From the south, a loud humming; this could really be anything, from a generator to a furnace. From the east, a gurgling; could be a coolant reservoir. And finally, from the north, a steady clicking. This was the sound that made her the most uneasy, as she had no idea what it could possibly be. Gurgling could be trouble for her systems, and her suit wasn't exactly built for liquid environments. The south, like the north, presented too many unknowns and Jack wanted to be as prepared as she could be. This left the sound of blowing wind. If this was a ventilation system, then it's likely Jack found her ticket to almost anywhere in the complex, and besides, her suit's mobility would be best suited for that kind of scenario.

 

Jack chose the Western passage, little lights flickering on from Hack and Slash as they lit the passage, towards whatever dangers lay before her.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"Are you asking me to destroy the holy ground?" Kai had raised an eyebrow, equally as confused by Choros' question as he was with her suggestion for a second.

 

"Well... if I'm honest, I'm surprised you haven't blown it all to hell already," she stated frankly, "I mean... you did do more damage to the place just then than we were ever going to... maybe... probably... I don't even know what this geezer can do aside from read minds and summon things, but..."

"Perhaps you are correct, sister," Choros replied, either unknowingly intervening Kai's rambling in the process or not caring about the fact that he did, "I should cleanse the land in holy flame.  And as your opponent burns, I will render you unconscious in the skies.  But first, I will teach you more of your angelic lineage."

 

Immediately Choros went for one of the pillars and swung it at Kai. The fact that he was able to lift such a thing shouldn't have been much of a surprise, but Kai wasn't able to dodge in time nonetheless, with the pillar being slammed into her right leg and sending her a good distance off-course before she could recover. It would hurt to stand on it for quite some time, but thankfully Kai could easily stay airborne long enough for her healing factor to kick in and bring that leg to a good strength level again. Kai didn't really need her legs at this point of time anyway; what she needed was to stay airborne for as long as she could.

 

"OK... for all I've done, I probably deserved that," Kai was willing to admit, "But unless it's more cool moves you're trying to teach me, I'll have to pass. This whole Angelic Law thing's way too convoluted as it is, with you here fighting to protect this place and what it stands for and us technically trespassing and all this other bullshit and yada yada yada I think we both get the picture already. But come on. Mom wouldn't want us to fight. She hates fighting."

 

With a deep sigh, Kai pulled the halo away from her head with one hand and held it to her chest.

 

"I don't wanna have to do this... I really don't. But I swear on my..." Kai paused and examined her halo briefly, before returning it to where she had it, "...whatever this thing was again that if you lunge at me or swing something at me or drop a dr-... more meteors, rather, then I'm gonna have to make whatever play counteracts that thing you wind up doing. Pfft, can't believe I almost said 'drop a draco'; you weren't gonna know what I meant..."

 

She laughed at herself for her blundering. She had a good time with her half-brother. She always did. But now was the time to adopt a brave face, as she gripped the halo tightly and waited for Choros to make his next move. The moment of truth would soon come.

[Dad]

Sahill Cathedral, 8F

 

Far below the cathedral, behind a lengthy dark corridor, were six cultists.  They stood in a cobblestone room, supported by Four massive pillars of stone, anchored into the ground below them.  The room was squared along the outside, but folded into a rectangle shape at its center where the floor sank and the cultists stood.  Piles of fresh bones lined the walls, some of them with flesh still attached, and blood staining the cobblestone around them.  Two heavy, large wooden doors were tightly sealed, marking the only way in or out of several hundred feet of stone.  At its center was an eerie cauldron, which the cultists seemed to be worshiping.  It was held above carved hole in the ground, sustained with rusty black chains and a hollow metal ring platform.  Beneath the ring platform, in the hole in the floor, was a brightly glowing pool of lime green slime, bubbling and boiling, steam rising into the room.  Around the cauldron, the cultists spoke an unintelligible chant, their heads bobbing and their bodies swaying as they spoke.  

 

One of the cultists brandished a large, rusted, jagged dagger, and raised it above the cauldron.  Cautiously, he dipped it in the seeping black ooze inside of the cauldron, and coated the blade.  One by one, he began to move around the center of the room, going to each of the other five cultists.  He stopped at the first cultist, and snatched his cloak away from his face.  The man was on his last leg, still barely alive.  He grinned madly, cackling, on the verge of crying with fear.  He put on a brave smile, as the cultist with the now dripping black dagger, held it above his head.  The black ooze dripped once onto the other cultist's forehead, and his eyes became white.  His pupils dilated, and he screeched in agonizing pain.  His knees gave out, and he fell forwards, his neck against the burning hot cauldron.  The dagger wielding cultist raised the man's neck before it could be burned, and proceeded to slit his throat, blood spilling into the black ooze inside the cauldron.  He left the man's body braced against the cauldron, and moved forward to the next cultist.

 

This ritual that they were performing would take some time.  But each time a cultist's blood spilled into the cauldron, the Cathedral quaked.  At the time of Bethany and Lace's conversation, three quakes had now occurred.  Three cultists remained.

 

---

 

The A.W. Network, Cooling Tunnel 1-C

 

Angelica would find her attack successful, bringing down two of the six reptilian creatures that stalked her from below.  However, as the sound of bodies splashed into the dirty water below, Angelica would notice the creatures lowering themselves, practically attempting to dive into the shallow, ankle high water below her.  Two of the experiments watched her carefully.  The other two began to feast on their fallen experiments' corpses.  The two feeding Experiments ravaged on the corpses of their brothers, the chemicals inside of them being nurtured and quickly maturing by the make-up of their and their dead brothers' DNA.  The feasting Experiments suddenly stopped eating, their bodies bulging and twitching.  They stood up, hunched over, as their backs rippled and twisted.  The feasting Experiments each grew two more arms, and their mass increased by ten percent.

 

They became slightly more feral than the Experiments which had not been fed.  They turned to Angelica, and one by one they began to cling to the walls, leaping out of the water with ease.  They ran along the walls from different positions, each of the four remaining Experiments using their numbers advantage to lunge at Angelica.

 

---

 

A.W. Network, Main Floor, West

 

As Jack crossed the threshold of the Western path, she would hear a soft mechanical buzzing behind her.  The four-way corridor was now being sealed, as a divided metal wall closed behind her.  She would feel a cool breeze still coming down the pathway, but it was getting weaker.  The longer Jack waited, the more the breeze would begin to dissipate, and the warmer things would get.  The time between each stretch of wind was currently apart by twenty seconds.  Eventually, the breeze would stop completely, and Jack would have to find a way out.  But first, she had to reach the end of the two and a half meter stretch of the Western path.

 

The only thing standing between Jack, and the end of the Western pathway, was an advanced hologram.  Once more, a clone was deployed to stall Jack, but this time, packed with a new trick.  In addition to having Jack's entire arsenal up its sleeve, there was one thing this hologram could do that Jack could not.  And as it appeared some one hundred feet in front of Jack, it immediately deployed clones of Hack and Slash to mirror their movements.  It stood in wait, to keep Jack away from the cooling fan at the end of the Pathway.  

 

---

 

The Church of Jubilee

 

As his attack landed, the pillar shattered into chunks of marble.  Choros listened intently to his sister, hanging on to her words.  

 

"I don't wanna have to do this... I really don't. But I swear on my......whatever this thing was again that if you lunge at me or swing something at me or drop a dr-... more meteors, rather, then I'm gonna have to make whatever play counteracts that thing you wind up doing. Pfft, can't believe I almost said 'drop a draco'; you weren't gonna know what I meant..."

 

Choros watched his sister carefully, never taking his eye off of her.  "Angels have not waged war against one another for a millennia.  For you and I to stand here today--family, and foe--is unprecedented."  There was an odd tone to Choros' words, as the symbol on his back began to turn, and move like gears on a clock.  It glowed, shadowing on the ground behind Choros, as he spoke.  "Forgive me, dear sister.  I encouraged you to be a part of the human's tournament.  However, I did not know it would lead you to this place.  My ignorance is as dangerous as mankind itself."  The symbol stopped spinning, as Choros put a hand behind his back.

 

"It is because you are my sister that I wish only to render you immobile.  But your threats, your presence, and your lack of knowledge of the law, have left me no choice."

 

Choros pressed his hand against his back, and squeezed.  The symbol reacted to his hand, and from his back Choros slowly drew a sword.  A golden hilt and a silver white blade in angelic fashion was ripped from his body, and then planted in the ground.  As it was planted into the ground, the sword hummed, glowing the same shade of red that was upon Choros' back.  The church grounds shook, and beneath them, holy energies gathered, drawing towards the blade.  Choros raised a hand, and complied with Kai's previous wish.

 

"Holy Flame," he said softly.  The church grounds began to crack, spreading far and wide as steam hissed from beneath the ground.  "Cleanse," he finished.  A pure, white hot flame erupted from the ground, stretching into the air for miles, enveloping the church grounds.  Slowly, as they dissipated, the flames converged back onto the sword, where Choros placed both of his hands.  

[Hälō]

"I'll handle it." Lace whispered to Bethany as she inspected the large wooden doors that separated them from obvious commotion that was happening inside the chamber. "Doesn't seem like they've finished the summoning yet. That means we may still have a chance to stop this demonic disco before ever having to deal with whatever they're trying to cook up..." Urgency oozed from her voice. Four tremors had struck the cathedral since her and Bethany had met, and she had sinking a feeling that they were running out of time.

 

"Ready," She started as she stepped to the door and placed her hand on Beowulf's hilt. "Go!" With a grunt, Lace drew he blade and cleaved through the massive wooden doors with surprising force. Following through with her attack, Lace brought her leg up in a quick front kick, sending splinters of the door flying into the room as she busted through with her unnatural strength. 

 

Not wasting any time, Lace set her sights on the cultist that was standing over his fellow zealots with a dripping black dagger. Not sure exactly how the ritual worked, she decided that any sort of disruption would have to do. Using her speed to quickly close the distance, Lace hastily knocked one of the remaining two victims away from the cauldron with a swift backhand leaving the other one for Bethany to handle as she prepared to engage the figure with the dagger. 

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

"More of these dang clones," Jack muttered, keeping a careful eye on what it was doing to copy her own drones. Nowhere to hide or run; she would need to confront this clone head-on. What was becoming steadily more frustrating was that, despite her best efforts to keep her own arsenal to herself, she was running out of trump cards for dealing with these obstacles, and she didn't even use Hack or Slash to deal with the last clones. Regardless, she had no choice in this matter.

 

Jack took her bow and generated a fistful of arrows. The director here may clone her gear, but he couldn't clone her training. "Nowhere to hide," Jack muttered, taking a breath and knocking and firing arrow after arrow down the hallway at the hologram clone. If there was a way to hurt these things, she needed to find out now.

[Tesability Black]

~Rawal's POV~

With himself floating next to Talis-Eye with their power, Rawal watched as the strange figure, the 'angel' removed the blade from his back, revealing more of the strange symbol that he couldn't help but compare to the one used by the Shapers back home. He saw as the man embedded the blade into the ground, glowing with red before unusual energy began to gather into it.

His eyes widened as the ground cracked, steam emerging from them before finally white-hot flames emerged from the cracks to set even the underground ablaze.

And Rawal found himself glad he swallowed his pride as a Shaper long enough to get out of there...

Underground paths might be a bad idea from this point on, Rawal heard in his head before turning to look towards the Eyebeast within the sphere of invisibility, the look of calculation on their face. That would have burned out all the air available.

Looks like we're staying in the air, then, Rawal thought back, trying to think of how to get around this problem. Finding himself wishing he had found a way to create a Wingbolt that wouldn't immediately detonate in this planet's air, he found himself thinking of another creation he could make that could take to the air. Prepare to make additional invisibility spheres, Talis---

Do you believe you can afford that, Talis-Eye asked telepathically before Rawal could finish his thought, raising one of the eyestalks towards the pair of angel and halfblood in the air. It's very possible that they might take each other out or that he will take her out. We can take advantage of this. After all, you only need to be the last one standing. The 'how' does not matter.

The fact that this planet's strange tactics and abilities kept throwing him makes him more than glad that he did have Talis-Eye on his side for the time being. Alright, then, Rawal agreed, recalling the glow of green into himself. We shall watch.

He planned on keeping an eye out for any form of screwball that could fly at them, not trusting much of this planet to behave as he thought it should...

 

~Talis-Eye's POV~

Be thankful I need you alive, Shaper, Talis-Eye thought to themselves in distain, careful not to let that thought move to the elder held aloft in the air beside them. Or I would have let you go by now...

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"I'll handle it."

Handle it? She was going to "handle" a door? How does that even...

"Go!"

Oh, that's how. The poor door.

 

Bethany followed through the hole, avoiding a shard of wood that tried to fall on her as she went into the broken doorway. The scene they stepped into was rather unusual. "Oh, more Dungeons and Dragons players." Bethany said, thinking she recognized this scene from one of those books that her kids found about the game.
But this was probably not a game and it looked like people had died. And more would die soon if they didn't stop it.

 

Lace went all in quickly and recklessly, charging right into the unknown. Bethany decided she couldn't do something like that. For all she knew the room would explode at any moment.
Instead she stayed near the doorway and drew her gun. She gave it a disgusted look and readied it, aiming at the other cultist, not the one with the dagger, that Lace left alone. She took a deep breath and spoke, worried her kids might be watching, "Do as I say not as I do." and pulled the trigger, aiming for the cultist's knee.
 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

 

"They're actually fast. Interesting."

 

The lizard creatures feasted on the charred bodies of their dead companions as Angelica cooled herself off, and she then noticed that they had grown stronger by doing so. Interestingly, they grew arms, and now they're climbing through the tunnel with absurd ease, going past the roadblocks she had made with barely any efforts. It was quite impressive, but she was now going to get attacked at any moments. She doubted that these creatures were intelligent in any way. Bestial hulks that acted on instincts, it perhaps wasn't the first time she faced something like this. However...was it really for the best to face these creatures now? She couldn't waste too much of her time being trapped here. She knew that it's useless to map the area now, so her priority would be to get to the power source as soon as she could. Wasting her time might allow Jack to gain an advantage before her.

 

So, that had been decided then. Her skin contorted a bit before showing several openings, and just as the creatures started to appear out of the hole, she rushed past them, removing the obstacles she placed and returning the tassels to herself in the meantime. Jets of energy fired through the openings on her body, acting as thrusters while also providing her with a defensive measure against the lizards. She was prepared to dodge the incoming attacks that might target her, but even if she can't, she was planning to just shed any part of her body that ended up getting grabbed by them anyway. Without any ounce of desperation and reservation, she continued her attempt to push through the four creatures to reach the exit of this tunnel.

 

"Yeah they're fast. And strong. Though, I think I'm faster, and there's really no other way to prove it other than doing this."

 

---

[Dad]

Sahill Cathedral

 

"Give your blood, for her majest--what!?"

 

There came a crashing from the chamber, as the gigantic doors that hid the cultists behind them were destroyed.  With blinding speed, Lace bursted through the doors and threw two cultists away from the cauldron, temporarily halting the ritual's completion.  The rest of the cultists bodies lie at the cauldron's fire, their skin being burned and charred by the flames.  Their leader, who's black, dripping dagger was pointed at Lace, staggered his movements as he threatened her.  "You're treading on dangerous grounds, little girl!"

 

A shot rang out and caught the Lead Cultist's attention.  His head snapped in Bethany's direction, before he heard one of his own fall to the ground in agony, hitting his head on the cauldron.  He collapsed, unconscious beside the cauldron as his robes caught flame.  "No!  Awake you fool!" he demanded, edging around the cauldron and keeping Bethany on his opposite side.  They circled the cauldron side to side, as the cultist attempted to reach his companion and Lace body-blocked him.

 

"What are you doing down here?" Lace demanded.

 

The Cultist sucked his teeth.  "Breathing new life into the world.  Something you wouldn't understand!"

 

"Sounds to me like you need him.  Judging by these corpses, you're using their blood for your ritual.  Which means, if this one bleeds out--"

 

"No!  Do not interfere you fool!" The Lead Cultist demanded.  He lunged around the cauldron, and Lace kicked the third cultist away from the cauldron, out of the enemy's reach.  The Lead Cultist madly dove for the unconscious man, but Lace caught him with one hand, and proceeded to render him unconscious with the other, punching him in the back of the head.  She tossed the Lead Cultist's unconscious body to the side.

 

Lace was silent, observing the room as the cauldron continued to bubble.  "We should be rid of these other cultists."

 

Lace approached one of the unconscious cultists on the other side of the room, and picked him up by his collar.  He was waking, slowly blinking.  He grinned as Lace stared him in the face.  She shook him violently.  "What were you doing down here?  Explain Lady Merl to me!  Now!"  She slapped the cultist, his face turning back to her with wide eyes and a crazed smile.  His mouth bled from the smack that Lace gave him, and he spoke through blood and fear.  "She.  LIVES!" he declared, pointing to the cauldron.

 

Lace turned back to face the cauldron, a single slimy, pale green hand with blood red nails, stretched out of the cauldron's black ooze, and gripped its side.  Lace dropped the cultist, and stood up straight, drawing her sword once more.  "How?  We stopped the ritual!"

 

The Lead Cultist turned over, groaning in pain, but laughing still.  "You cannot stop Lady Merl.  She may be incomplete, but she lives again!"

 

Lace let her eyes befall the Lead Cultist, before snapping back to the cauldron, as another equally pale green hand emerged from the black ooze.  "Then I shall slay her where she stands!"  Lace lunged at the cauldron, and wasted no time plunging Beowulf into the ooze to stop this "Lady Merl" from rising.  But Lace only heard Beowulf strike the bottom of the cauldron, steel on steel.  The cauldron bubbled more violently, and the black ooze erupted into the air, causing Lace to withdraw without Beowulf, and stand back, less she be heavily burned.  As the ooze splashed down against the stone around them and against the pillars, a lengthy, fifteen foot scaly tail whipped out of the cauldron, and casually tossed Beowulf back to Lace.

 

There, in the center of the room, was Lady Merl.  At more than twelve feet tall and thirty feet long, she was more snake than woman.  She bore three heads, one of which was not yet fully developed, and resembled that of a fetus.  The two developed heads were the same.  Emerald green eyes, long, jet black hair reaching their back, and pointed ears.  Her chest bare and her hands and arms were long and slender.  From her midsection down, Lady Merl was a snake.   Her scales were a dark silver, much tougher than any ordinary metal or flesh.  It was a very broad tail, in addition to being very heavy and powerful.  Powerful enough to apparently have deflected Beowulf when Lace attacked.

 

The far most left head watched Lace, as the center head turned to Bethany, tilting as it observed her.  The far right head whispered to the center head, speaking some unintelligible snake tongue.  At last, Lady Merl turned her entire body to face the Lead Cultist, who had succeeded in reviving her.  Slowly, her tail curled and began to whip, bashing away the cauldron beneath her, and shattering the pillars that surrounded it.  "We.  Must.  Feed!" she declared, diving at unprecedented speeds towards the Lead Cultist, nearest Bethany.  He spread his arms wide, waiting to embrace his lady.  "Take me, my Queen!"

 

---

 

A.W. Network Cooling Tunnel 1-C

 

With great speed and poise, Angelica managed to burst past the Experiments, despite their desperate efforts to leap after her.  Her speed was far too great for them to overcome, even with their evolution.  Angelica made great distance between herself and the Experiments, and now she reached the end of the cooling tunnel.  It narrowed, causing her to slow her speed, and eventually even have to come to a literal crawl.  The exit was but a small, man sized port that led to a hallway.  Crawling out of it, Angelica would find she was at a four-way cross roads, where the Western path had been blocked by massive amounts of steel reinforcements and alien technology.  The time it would take her to cut through it would be immense.  Down each path, however, she could hear a distinct noise.  From the East, there was a gurgling sound.  It was harsh, and rapid.  From the south, directly behind her, there was a busy humming.  And from the north, there was a feint clicking, coming in four second intervals.

 

What path Angelica chose was irrelevant.  How fast and how cautiously she was able to get through it, was vital.  Sooner or later, she would have to find and face the Administrator.  But first, she had to find it.

 

---

 

A.W. Network, West

 

Jack's arrows nearly found their mark, her copy evading two of three shots.  The other struck its left arm, and made a peculiar sound as if it had short circuited something.  And then, her copy vanished, only its Hack and Slash clones remaining behind.  Then, there was crackle beside Jack, against the wall, similar to the one that had occurred when she struck her clone's left arm.  Revealing itself out of cloaking, the clone delivered a swift kick to Jack's face, knocking her aside.  It landed on its feet, and knocked two arrows of its own, aiming for Jack's center of mass.

 

---

 

The Church of Jubilee

 

Withdrawing the sword from the ground, Choros held it with both hands, showing it to Kai.  "Do you remember this relic?" he asked, now examining the hard work crafted by fellow angels.  "I should say not.  You were but a child.  Gabriel was not wise to your existence.  Had he been, this blade would have been the end of you."  The Sword of Gabriel's Flame.  An angelic relic used to punish those who threatened the balance of the world.  Or those who threatened Gabriel himself.  But Gabriel had fallen, and like many of the angelic relics, he ceased to exist.  Except for three.  The Sword of Gariel's Flame--

 

"It speaks to me, still.  Haunting me.  The prayers of the weary fall to me now.  And I cannot answer them.  Still, this relic does bestow to me some power.  Though I wonder, has your ally been slain?  There remains no trace of them to be seen.  And you live, sister.  Perhaps you may retreat.  Are you now able to claim victory over this tournament's bout?"  Naturally, Choros could not see an invisible foe.  Though demons in his past could walk among shadows, that type of cloaking was something he could see.  This, that hid Rawal, was not something of his world.  And so, it came to his mind that it must be a form of unholy--or black--magic.  A natural conclusion to someone who was bound to heaven.

 

"Tell me, sister.  Are you satisfied now?  Your enemy does not remain.  You may leave this place."  Choros pointed Gabriel's Flame at Kai.  "And never return."

 

---

 

Xiang Battleground Pagoda

 

Wooden shards were launched at the Jiangshi, catching its attention.  Stretching its arm, it extended its palm, and with a resounding crack, batted away the wooden shards before they could reach it.  Withdrawing its arm, the Jiangshi heard the plea of his foe.

 

"I probably want to leave more than you want me to, but I'm stuck here until one of us wins a fight and I'd really like us both to go home alive so...no hard feelings? Sir?"

 

"Stuck?" it questioned.  "Are you bound to this place?" it asked.  "Are you, like the souls of the dead, tied to this battleground, for eternity?"  The Jiangshi clasped its hands together, a reverberating red glow surrounding them.  "If you are stuck," it began, separating its hands now.  "Then I will free you from your imprisonment.  I will cleanse your corruption.  Your impurities.  As I have for so many."

 

A cool wind blew through the Pagoda, and the Jiangshi rotated on the ball of its foot.  In one swift motion, it flipped, and launched a powerful kick at Mango.  The strike was so fast, that it hummed through the air, blurry and nearly unseen.  Its limb separated and extended, going far beyond its natural reach as a red aura surrounded it.  All the while, its eyes never fell off of the Louis or his shadow.  It clasped its hands together while maintaining its balance on the attack, and awaited his opponents moves.

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

 

Jack's arrows found their mark in the hologram clone, which immediately fizzled out.

 

"Looks like I hit the ma--" Jack's celebration was immediately cut short as the hologram's boot met her head, tossing her like a rag doll down the tunnel, her armor banging against the metal of the passage as she did so, landing flat on her back. The clone had already loaded some arrows, forcing Jack to spring onto her haunches and vault backwards into a somersault; the arrows sinking deep into the metal where her body was before.

 

"Heh, not bad, but you're going to have to do better than that to copy me," Jack smirked. Her armor was good, but it didn't absorb much blunt force, and the room was beginning to spin. It was a good, strong hit. Nonetheless, it was time to see how well the holograms copied Jack's armor. Hack and Slash were both still close by the hologram's location; the side panels of the machines springing open as electricity sparked from within. Both would do their full discharge, which while it would leave them forced to charge before they could attack again, the full brunt from both robots should be enough to really put that hologram out for the count if it was still conductive of that energy.

 

Jack, on the other hand, would benefit from the perks of having a suit made of carbon and synthetic materials. Bow still in hand, she knocked two more arrows and fired them at the clones of Hack and Slash, running at them head-long and towards the other end of the passage. She only needed to get around that clone, and flanking her let her do just that.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"A crossroad already?"

 

A slight exasperation could be heard from her voice as Angelica managed to get out from the cooling tunnels only to end up to more obstacles. She immediately noticed that the western path was blocked by way too much debris for her to proceed. She could try blasting it off with a huge laser, but the recharge time didn't seem to worth it especially with how she was still being chased by the experiments behind her. From the east, a gurgling sound could be heard. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be a good news. From behind her, there was an odd, intriguing busy humming. It definitely weren't coming from the experiments, that she was able to know. And from the north, a distinct ticking noise could be heard, coming at 4 seconds of interval.

 

It didn't take Angelica long to decide. She removed three tassels from her, and fired them towards different directions while she jet right up north. The tassels would then form yet a few other dog-shaped bots, with one fired westward in particular using the debris blocking the path as material. The dogs would be designed to inspect each of the other paths while she inspected the north path. The west dog in particular was armed by a small cutting tool that would allow it to slowly make its way through the blockade hopefully.

 

She still needed to be careful, but Angelica knew that she had wasted a lot of time already. Jack could be anywhere, and the more time she spent being idle, the closer would her opponent be towards the command room. Knowing her ability, it would be a win condition for Jack.

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Wow that's skill." Bethany said sarcastically. "Shoot a guy, knock him out." Her simple attack had certainly worked better than she had expected with how crazy things have gotten lately. She was glad, in a way, to know that something as mundane as a gun can still do something worthwhile.

Of course she still felt like total slime holding the thing.

 

"What are you doing down here?" Lace demanded.

"Breathing new life into the world.  Something you wouldn't understand!"

Oh so they're giving birth. Great. She'd heard of test tube babies but never cauldron babies.

 

Bethany decided to let Lace take on the role of question asking. It kept Bethany out of the spotlight and gave her a chance to figure out what was going on and what she would do.

 

"You cannot stop Lady Merl.  She may be incomplete, but she lives again!"

 

Bethany perked up. She had been leaning against the doorway, waiting to see if she'd have to intervene (seriously this girl is a one woman army what in the world?) but it looked like something was going down and she probably should get ready.

 

What came next was...it was a bit hard to describe. If Bethany had to explain it to someone it'd go something like "A giant snake came out of a less giant cauldron. Only it was just kind of a snake. Also it had three heads. One was a baby. Because magic works like that I guess."

Why? Why was she here? She was just a human, a freak, but human nonetheless. She just wanted to have a few fights, hopefully win some money, and return to her kids with a chance at giving them better lives.

 

Why did she have to deal with demons and zombies and super-humans in the process? If it weren't for the fact she was pretty sure it'd lead to a really nasty confrontation she'd go to their host after this and scold him like one of her kids.

Of course that would mean she had to survive.

 

The snake not a snake but also not a person thing was lunging towards one of the DnD players, apparently hankering for some munchies, and Bethany was not particularly interested in stopping her.

After all if she was eating him she couldn't eat her.

....But this was a chance to catch the thing off guard so she kind of had to take it.

Did she really just decide to not let someone die because of strategy? "Bethany you jerk..." she muttered to herself as she raised her gun again. She decided to aim for the fetus face. The thinking was it would be the most vulnerable but, hey, shoot something in the head, even if it had three heads, and usually that would do some damage right?

 

So she fired off four shots at the thing before getting ready to dive away if it decided to come towards her.

[Tesability Black]

~Rawal's POV~

Thanks to Talis-Eye listening into the conversation via the tiny connection remaining in Kai's head, Rawal listened to the conversation between her and Choros. A small sphere in his hands of green energy, he wove that around his hands as he thought.

No, he had no intention of using this Essence for anything yet, but the mere act of working with it in such a way often helps him focus. "When I say to, pull completely out of her head."

Talis-Eye, whom had been focused on both maintaining the connection and keeping both of them afloat, just stared at him with a few of the eyestalks behind themselves. "What are you---oooh, that might work," they stopped mid-sentence as he purposely projected the plan to them. "She does seem that type."

A few seconds passed and Talis-Eye winked at him with an eye...

~Talis-Eye's POV~

"Let's see how good an actor you are," the Eyebeast thought to themselves as more of their eyes began to glow.

"...h--ha---hap..p..py," he thought first with an angered question behind it as he struggled with the words native to the world, Talis-Eye repeating to him what what he wanted to say translated into. "I...I cam...'cro--cross stars...to get...here...I...I will...die...as the...last...Shap...er..."

"Now," he commanded verbally in his own native tongue, and Kai would feel a sudden void in her head as Talis-Eye completely pulled out of her head. They figured that the difficulty speaking such words and making them right and clear could give credence to trying to speak while forcing himself to stay alive...

 

Let's see how well that worked, Talis-Eye thought to themselves. Though, to be perfectly honest, they expected this to fail, more due to the bone-headed b!tch probably more keen on finding a body first...but they weren't gonna mention that to Rawal.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

 
'andkaiwouldfeelasuddenvoidinherheadas... Wha-...What the funk is this?!'
 
Yeah... apparently that's what happens when minds get extracted or something or rather...
 
'I...! Who even let this guy in, anyway?'
 
I'll handle your fight with Rawal, alright, Kai? Now quit breaking the fourth wall or I'll write you straight into Choros' next attack.

'Ugh... fffffffiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine,'
 
K, good. Now where was I?
 
...
 
Kai listened contently... or rather, as contently as she was ever going to, as Choros spoke a little more of sword he had in hand. Gabriel's Flame, huh? Yet another thing she'd have to remember, among even others still. But eventually, Kai found herself at sword-point with her own brother.
 
"Tell me, sister. Are you satisfied now? Your enemy does not remain. You may leave this place. And never return."
 
Honestly, Kai didn't want to be here either. But something that she couldn't put her finger on had disallowed her to trust that Choros had actually killed the guy she needed to bring down to advance. It could've been the tone of Choros' voice; after all, it did sound like he said that just to try and get Kai out of his hair for good. Though he did seem confident that Rawal was dead. Either that, or he would refuse to admit that he missed. In any case, Kai still needed a sign. One that would signify Rawal's survival or, preferably, one that signified his death. One of the two would come out soon enough.

"...h--ha---hap..p..py. I...I cam...'cro--cross stars...to get...here...I...I will...die...as the...last...Shap...er..."

 

"Oh, pffft, now I know that you're not actually dead, you old hag!" Kai spat, "You're not faking me out any time sooooooooEEEEEEEEEK!!"

 

That's when it hit her. Something was forcing its way out of Kai's mind, and it felt like it was about to take the whole thing with it. The nephilim clutched her head, curled her legs up to her chest and writhed in agony as the pain commenced for what would be the longest 12 seconds of her life. Before suddenly... well, her head was still pounding by the end of it, but at least it didn't feel so bad any more. Although Kai was still confused more than anything.

 

'OK.. not so much talk about how you're not gonna let him fake you out and actually don't?' Kai thought, 'Ow... holy sheet that still hurts,'

 

Eventually, a few select memories, albeit some completely random ones for the most part, had surfaced upon Kai's mind at once. Most of them would understandbly be considered TMI, but one struck out in particular. If it had been extracted from her like the others could have been, then at least whatever creature that was that would've extracted would finally realize the true reason that Kai entered the tournament.

 

...

 

With all the memories back in her head where they belonged, Kai recollected herself, and turned to face her brother.

 

"He's still alive," she told Choros, "He maybe hiding under some kind of invisibility thing like a funking CHICKEN-sheet(!!), but he's definitely still alive..."

[Yui]

---

"Stuck? Are you bound to this place? Are you, like the souls of the dead, tied to this battleground, for eternity? If you are stuck, then I will free you from your imprisonment. I will cleanse your corruption. Your impurities. As I have for so many."

 

Gulp.

 

The jiangshi rotated, and then-POW! Seemingly out of nowhere, the jiangshi's foot flew through the air, landing on and kicking Mango on the side of her head, knocking her right down. Well that was kinda rude, wasn't it? As Mango got back up to her feet, rubbing the point of impact with the palm of her hand, Mango simply looked at the jiangshi again. She did not want to fight this guy. She didn't really want to fight anyone for that matter, but this person in particular gave her the creeps. "I think this is all a big misunderstanding," Mango started, just a bit desperate to avoid having to fight not one, but two opponents. Even so, she assumed a stance in preparation for another attack. Just in case.

 

"Try to imagine like this big metal box and it flies, and there's people driving it. They brought us here in the box for this big tournament thing and I don't think anyone knew you were here and I'm really sorry for disturbing your peace. But me and the little guy kinda have to fight if we want to go home but I don't really want to kill him so if you could just let us go quietly we'll leave your Taijutsu or whatever you said. Right, buddy?" Glaring just a bit at the "little guy" in question, though in a distinctly not angry way, Mango repeated "Right?"

 

As if to make her point clear, Mango started slowly shuffling her way backwards, to go back out the way she came in.

---

[Dad]

Sahill Cathedral

 

As Lady Merl dove to devour the dastardly cultist, she was attacked by something she didn't recognize.  But she didn't have the patience or interest to figure out what it was.  But it attempted to kill the undeveloped sister head, which was a problem for all of them.  They stopped in their tracks as the crack of Bethany's gun went off, raising their collective heads to glare at the bullets that were meant to kill them.  Lady Merl raised a hand, and the bullets shook, stopping in mid air before reaching the creature.  The bullets continued to inch forward, indicating Merl had to concentrate to manipulate them.  Though its power was not yet fully developed, it swatted the bullets down to the ground with its tail, crushing them.  The three heads looked to Bethany, tilting slowly one at a time, examining her from head to toe as they wrapped their tail around their meal.  It raised the laughing lead cultist, holding him above the floor with just their tail.  

 

"This one."

 

"Is afraid."

 

"She will be no threat."

 

"Then we will feast."

 

"Kill the other."

 

"Make an example of this one."

 

The cultist was ripped in half with a single flick of Merl's tail, and a grasp by her left hand.  It was as if his spine and bones were made of paper, because he flapped like tissue in the wind.  One of Lady Merl's fully formed heads opened its mouth, and its jaw detached, expanding and growing to disgustingly unusual and unlikely size.  It expanded to fit the former cultist's half body into its mouth, head first.  Swallowing him whole, one half at a time, Lady Merl's third head matured a bit more, gaining complete eyes and a mouth.  Though it was still not completely developed, it had made progress to increasing Merl's power.  They turned their backs to Bethany, and looked to Lace.

 

"This one."

 

"Is bold."

 

"Not afraid."

 

"Confused?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Tear."

 

"Her."

 

"Apart!"

 

Crashing through the ritual room, Lady Merl's tail smashed through the stone wall as she raced towards Lace, and raised her claws.  There was a scraping sound as Lady Merl dragged one claw along the wall, and brought a colossal portion of the western wall behind Lace down with a swipe of her hand.  Merl raised herself off of the ground, scaling the crumbling wall, and curling around its back corners as it prepared to pounce on Lace from above.

 

---

 

A.W. Network West

 

The Hack and Slash clones were destroyed on impact by Jack's arrows, as Jack's own clone was caught off guard by Hack and Slash's discharge attack.  It was frozen in place, until its digital construction could no longer maintain itself, and it was destroyed.  The path ahead of Jack was clear now, nothing but a straight, albeit tight shot to the enormous fan that was spinning ahead of her.  A properly placed arrow to its center would halt the fan's function.  However, as Jack got closer to the fan, firing with her bow would become nearly impossible due to the powerful winds put out by this fan.  She would have to physically disable the machine on her own, and proceed past it.  But a fan this big and powerful had to be connected to something.  What did shutting it off actually do?

 

There was an equally thin corridor just beyond the fan, with a heavy, single metal door hiding a ladder behind it, leading to the second floor.  And there was only one other room on the second floor.  The Control Room.  Guarding it, however, was a final replication of Jack.  It was as advanced as it was going to get.  And it was fully loaded, waiting and wondering if Jack would make it through.

 

Opposite Jack, Angelica darted north.  The ticking would grow louder as she approached the North path.  Along the walls, a series of tracks that housed small steel squares, with a tiny incision in their center.  Every four seconds, those squares fired, releasing connecting grids of white hot lasers, that stretched from west wall to east wall.  As Angelica crossed the northern border, the walls behind her began to close, a series of large locks and steel preventing her from returning south.  Beyond the grid, there lie another series of laser grids, these firing in alternate intervals of the same four seconds as the first grid.  Further, a ladder, leading to the second floor.  And waiting for Angelica was the Control Room. 

 

Guarding the Control Room were three mounted laser turrets, on the north, south, and east corners, opposite the Jack clone.  There, the Administrator lie in wait for them both.

 

---

 

The Church of Jubilee

 

"He's still alive," she told Choros, "He maybe hiding under some kind of invisibility thing like a funking CHICKEN-sheet(!!), but he's definitely still alive..."

 

 

Choros' grip tightened on Gabriel's Flame.  "Invisibility?" he pondered aloud.  "Only demons and angels are able to walk in the world of the unseen," he proclaimed.  Such was the unfamiliar, convoluted world of angels.  Not only was Choros wrong, but he knew very little of human technology, and the world outside of Heaven.  He could only see what he was commanded to protect.  And if there was something unfamiliar to him, it was either black magic, or the work of devils.  "A demon walks among you, Kai.  And you, among them.  Tell me, sister," Choros said raising Gabriel's Flame.  "When did you turn your back on the ways of old?  On the world you were sworn to protect.  On me."

 

Choros ran his hand over Gabriel's Flame, turning the flames from orange, to white.  "You are tainted, sister."  He swung Gabriel's blade wide, and a wave of white energy washed over the Church of Jubilee.  For a brief moment, Kai continued to float.  However, after several seconds, she would notice her ability to fly had been rendered temporarily useless.  "I will free you from your sins, and save your soul."

 

Then, Choros turned around, and directed his blade at Rawal, who's cloaking had been disabled.  Now revealed, Choros' made a decision.  "And you."  Choros pointed Gabriel's blade to the sky now, as an orange sky began to stir overhead.  "You will burn."  For the next one hundred and twenty seconds, including Choros, no one inside of the Church of Jubilee's grounds would be able to fly, blink, cloak, or teleport.  Choros charged headlong at Rawal, Gabriel's Flame still raised, as the sky opened to reveal dozens of meteors entering the atmosphere.

 

---

 

Xiang Battleground Pagoda

 

Mango backed away after a vicious kicked landed across its face.  The Jiangshi noted its fear, as its eyes wavered between the Jiangshi itself and Louis.  

 

"What frivolous meaning you have for trespassing on these grounds.  You have been here long enough.  You cannot leave," it said, clapping its hands together once more.  "Now, you are destined to become with the lost in this place."

 

It extended a mighty hand, punching the ground beneath its feet, and creating a powerful rift outwards from the center of impact.  It destroyed the Pagoda's floors and kicked wood and shrapnel in 360 degrees.  Large shards flew at both Mango and Louis, as the Jiangshi rose from its position, and sprang with quick bounds and leaps in a cartwheel towards Louis.  It extended both of its fists, attacking from long range, while simultaneously closing the distance between them.

[Hälō]

"This one."

 

"Is bold."

 

"Not afraid."

 

"Confused?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Tear."

 

"Her."

 

"Apart!"

 

"So that one cultist wasn't enough to get it back to full strength..." Lace thought to herself as she watched the monster unhinge it's jaw and swallowed it's victim whole.

 

She took a step back cautiously as the snake demon eye'd her for a moment, before suddenly dashing forward and bringing the western wall down in a attack. Lace stayed unnaturally still as bricks and stone began raining down around her, only glancing back over her shoulder moments before Lady Merl and the bulk of the wall were on top of her. 

 

"Helter-skelter." Lace's voice called over the loud crash of the rubble and Lady Merl's weight as the two seemingly crushed the girl. Though the demon would soon find that her prey was far more slippery than she thought...

 

Reappearing above Lady Merl with her right hand grasping Beowulf's hilt, Lace empowered her blade with energy from her soul before quickly drawing it in a downwards swing, releasing a large concussive shock wave down upon the monster. "Here, eat this!" Lace grunted with effort as she swung her arm upwards again to send the deceptively heavy blade spinning sown towards the back of Lady Merl's middle head; knowing that the beast would expect her to target the weaker of the three. 

 

Free of Beowulf's weight, Lace allowed herself to fall down towards Lady Merl as her hands moved towards the straight sword on her hip. It was time to get up close and personal...  

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Right, time powers, that's fair." Bethany muttered. This thing had all the advantages apparently. Nevertheless Bethany refused to unleash her magic. She couldn't take that risk. Once she started she wasn't sure she could stop.

 

She cringed as the monster ate one of the cultists, unable to do anything to stop it, and watched as it moved to attack Lace.
The girl seemed to handle it quite well and was going after the monster as if she was used to otherworldly demonic snake women popping out of cauldrons. Maybe Bethany was the weird one here.

 

Still, she couldn't do much in her position. So she waited until the snake monster reacted to Lace's attack. As soon as her focus was on that, Bethany would unload the rest of the clip into the thing's heads. Maybe she'd get a couple bullets through whatever magic this thing had while it was distracted.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Up until this moment, Louis had been studying this...thing.  So far, most of it's attacks had been directed towards the...other thing.  

 

"Try to imagine like this big metal box and it flies, and there's people driving it. They brought us here in the box for this big tournament thing and I don't think anyone knew you were here and I'm really sorry for disturbing your peace. But me and the little guy kinda have to fight if we want to go home but I don't really want to kill him so if you could just let us go quietly we'll leave your Taijutsu or whatever you said. Right, buddy?" 

 

"I'm not your buddy, friend."  Louis said. not particularly amused.  It was funny...seeing as Louis had every intention of killing this toxic avenger ripoff.  

 

"What frivolous meaning you have for trespassing on these grounds.  You have been here long enough.  You cannot leave," it said, clapping its hands together once more.  "Now, you are destined to become with the lost in this place."

 

The thing finally realized that he wasn't the focus of the attack...maybe he wasn't such a threatening person to a zombie deity dude.  With it launching an attack, and advancing towards Louis at the same time, Louis sighed.  He was going to give away some of his abilities, but it would be better than taking this punch to the dome.  Louis quickly sunk into his shadow, narrowly dodging the blow.  He was then met face to face with Basabth.  He was snoozing, but soon awoke realizing another presence was in the shadow realm with him.  

 

"Hey buddy...how's it hangin' out there?"

 

"It's going alright...Fighting some stretchy zombie now...what else is new?"  Louis then emerged from his shadow, only halfway so that his waist still resided in the shadow dimension.  "So do you go by dhalsim rules or what?  I was never really good against the Dhalsim match up."  Just then a large shadowy fist emerged from his shadow, right in front of where he resided, launching up towards the stretchy zombie.  

[Tesability Black]

~Rawal's POV~

Suddenly, the feeling of being pulled down towards the ground alongside Talis-Eye became apparent as the pair found themselves coming closer and closer to the ground. "Talis-Eye, what's going on?!" Not long after the Shaper's feet connected with the ground did the pair see the sword wielded by the angel suddenly pointed at the duo, specifically more at him.

He did not need to understand the monster in front of him to know that he was in trouble, especially after the sky started to rain literal fire once more. "Let's go!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!"

Both fled to whatever shelter they could find, moving whenever their current shelter was destroyed. Finding a point where they could momentarily hide from Choros' view, they found a crack in the ground big enough for even Talis-Eye to slide into. While a tight squeeze, both managed to get down...

...and Rawal was almost wowed by what spaces that were created underground between both his Artilas earlier and the underground blazes, especially when considering the fact that they weren't very far underground, either. Placing a hand on the dug-out wall to one side, it felt like he was touching glass. Extremely-thick glass, from what he could see. Could it possibly resist impact from above?

He certainly hoped so.

"Don't worry, I can at least reinforce the spots we're in," he heard behind him, in response to his thoughts.

"Good to hear," Rawal stated in response before raising his hands in front of himself, a radioactive-green orb beginning to form floating in front of himself before splitting it into three with one larger than the rest. Raising the largest of the three orbs slightly higher into the air, he focused first on the two remaining one, recreating his bluish worm-like creations from earlier, the blue-hued Plated Artilas. As soon as they were formed, they quickly slithered off to make new tunnels underneath the ground for their own use. The last he pushed into the ceiling with his gloved hand, looking to be straining as the green orb of semi-solid energy moved up through the earth.

But he was really doing multiple things at once. Part of being a Shaper regarded experimentation and editation, learning how to change your creations overtime to improve them. As he pushed the essence through the ground, he focused on the strange flames that scorched above and below the surface, trying to interweave the nature of those flames into the creation that would soon emerge above.

What finally emerged was something white and large. A rounded head poked out as it slithered out until it could get its long and strong legs out to above the surface. Red, solid-colored eyes blinked as they looked around, black antennae waving about for anything nearby. Once the creature was fully in view, it looked like the two legs it had were were bent backwards, but that did not seem to effect how fast it could move negatively. The odd thing was the stingerless tail it now had. Instead, as the tail moved about, several inches flickered as if always surrounded by an invisible flame.

Not long after it emerged before it let out a challenging roar that started as a low note that quickly reached higher pitches before it rushed forward with speed greater than expected for its large size...and through its eyes, Rawal could see what was happening above. He could see that he succeeded, the flames that hit the creation, the White Flame Ur-Glaahk as Rawal would now call this variant, were not affecting it, and the stones that were surrounded by the flame were easily whipped off-course by the tail. It set a course towards the one that tried to condemn him to death for existing, towards Choros...

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"I will not accept defeat, not at this point."

 

Lasers spread out like a wall before Angelica, seemingly acting as an impenetrable obstacle for her. She had sat there thinking for a while, having lost contact with her drones that she sent on the other sides earlier. She was sure that this was clearly the right way for her to go to, especially with how the walls closed in from behind her to prevent her return. She had observed the lasers enough to notice the four-second interval between each time the grids on the western and eastern wall created the laser obstacle. She knew that she could attempt to use her thrusters at max output to go through this, but what if there's any surprise waiting beyond, preying exactly on that kind of answer?

 

She didn't even care about the possibility of her demise here now, she was just quite annoyed at herself for having such doubts. She took two of her tassels and fired them towards the nearest laser grids, where the two initiated their takeover process. Like a snake, the laser grid formed an extension which allowed it to fire at the other grids one by one. The fact Angelica ended up taking the longest and safest route irritated her as much as a automaton could feel irritation. She was annoyed at her innate self-preservation urges. Once she was able to disable everything on the room, she moved forward, with the two laser extensions still following her.

 

...Only to find another series of grid, similar to the previous one albeit with a different interval. That was it. She couldn't bear to waste anymore time. Once she was sure about the intervals, she prepared all her thrusters and overcharged her reactor, and blazed forward the moment the laser faded. She went on and on until she directly hit a ladder, and that was the moment she could actually stop herself. So far, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary outside of the laser grids, but as she ascended through the stairs, she noticed three turrets, all three aiming right at her.

 

This would be it. She was so close to the core of this Network now, and the three would be the last obstacles before her absolute victory over Jack. Angelica managed to dodge the first volley of fire while moving across the area, but the rate of fire of the turrets was a cause of concern. She considered slamming a tassel on one of them so she could have it shoot each other, but even getting close was hard right now. As she continued to dodge, she merely retaliated with taking potshots at the turrets with her own smaller laser blasts. Once she gathered enough intel of its capabilities, she would definitely be able to win this.

 

---

[Yui]

---

"What frivolous meaning you have for trespassing on these grounds. You have been here long enough. You cannot leave. Now, you are destined to become with the lost in this place."

 

Fine, I get it, I'll fight the creepy guy! Some people...

 

Mango, for one, wanted to avoid fighting this guy, but if there was no helping it, she'd have to just deal with it. And as it so happened, the creep's next attack was directed not at Mango, but at the boy she was here to fight in the first place. An opening. Perfect. Swinging her hands around to cut a few pieces of wooden shrapnel headed for her face but ignoring the rest - she would be fine taking a few hits of this caliber - Mango ran forward, palms facing outward and arms at her sides. The boy was also unleashing an attack, an upward fist. Mango would have to work with that.

 

With her left hand, Mango swept the blades on her hand to the right, making a slashing attack aimed for the jiangshi. Her right hand, meanwhile, shot forward, to either cut off a route of escape or to skewer a poorly-timed dodge. And to finish the compliment to the boy's attack, Mango turned her face upward, and spat forth a wad of acidic fluids, just in case her target decided to go up. You're the one who wanted this, not me.

---

[VCR_CAT]

Jack

The clone behind Jack was completely nuked by Hack and Slash's electrical discharge; filling the room with a bright, seizure-inducing rave of flashing lights. Before long it was over, and the two drones flew to catch up with their master. Of course, there was a new problem as the air currents began to get stronger. Jack's boots began to slide on the metal floor, and her drones were having trouble keeping up. Jack's arrows were fairly light, and as good as the bow was it wouldn't be able to fight the currents.

 

"Looks like I only have one way to do this, then" Jack muttered under her breath, slinging her bow over her shoulder and materializing one more arrow. She fired off tethers from her other arm and locked them into the pipe's walls, reeling herself in closer to the fan to avoid being blown away. On the other end, Jack saw another clone, and growled under her breath. When will this guy just quit?

 

Once Jack reached the fan, she slammed her arrow into the middle of it; glowing red circuit lines spreading through the motor's head. The fan began to slow, and then it stopped. Obviously this fan was used for coolant of some sort, so Jack wouldn't have much time before she would need to turn it back on again; leaving this clone to be a problem she would need to deal with quickly.

 

Jack disconnected her tethers, but neglected to reel them all the way back in. Instead, she swung her arm, whipping the tethers out towards the clone; the ends of the tethers grinding and sparking against the walls of the hallway. Of course, she wasn't pulling any punches, and already began to do the same with her other arm.