[hider=Stand(alone) and Run]
Alone, Chuunitrixx awoke. Her status screen was a mess of strange afflictions; like Curses, instead of Debuffs:
[hider=Status Screen]
[hider=Heavily Shaken]Unit cannot make a [[i][b]Movement Action[/b][/i]] in Combat without successfully passing a [[i][b]Stress Test[/b][/i]] of 75%[/hider]
[hider=Badly Demoralized]Unit cannot make an [[i][b]Attack Action[/b][/i]] in Combat without successfully passing a [[i][b]Stress Test[/b][/i]] of 75%[/hider]
[hider=Paranoid]Unit cannot roll to break any [[i][b]Fear[/b][/i]] Debuffs, and must be healed by a Lv10 High Cleric[/hider]
[hider=Terrified]Unit has a [[i][b]Disadvantage[/b][/i]] to [[i][b]Stress Test[/b][/i]] rolls in Combat; roll twice and take the lower result.[/hider]
[hider=Waking Nightmare]Unit is horribly stricken by something like a Nightmare's Mind Attacks, and hallucinations lower their [[i][b]Sanity[/b][/i]] and [[i][b]Accuracy[/b][/i]], causing Disadvantage to [[i][b]Attack Rolls[/b][/i]] in Combat; roll twice and take the lower result.[/hider]
[hider=Hoplophobia]Unit is horrified in the present of Firearm-type Weapons, and must roll a [[i][b]Stress Test[/b][/i]] to keep from being [[i][b]Shaken[/b][/i]] and [[i][b]Demoralized[/b][/i]] in the presence of one. This does not stop the Unit from using this Weapon Class, but each turn with a Firearm equipped requires a successful [[i][b]Stress Test[/b][/i]] of 75% or higher to make any actions, or the Unit will drop the Firearm.[/hider]
[/hider]
Her brain, her primary one, struggled; the Hivequeen attempting to wrestle the Automaton, Doppelganger, Greater Doppelganger, Homunculus, and Mimic back into place. It was only an immense pride in herself that brought the Royal Insect back to command, but, she couldn't shake the Debuffs. It would take someone of high levels in High Cleric just to take [[i][b]Shaken[/b][/i]] and [[i][b]Demoralized[/b][/i]] from their highest states to their lowest. However, only time or someone capable of undoing curses of this magnitude could cure them, and they seemed to be aggravating each other to help assure they persist.

Unfortunately, Chuunitrixx didn't know anyone like that around, and, trembling, she didn't wanna know anyone. Lying on the ground, Ariamis was radiating an unfamiliar threat with its mere existence; Chuunitrixx couldn't find it in her to move to pick her treasured weapon up, and regarded it with unadulterated fear. Suddenly, a rustle drew her attention, and she dove for the revolver; turning an aiming. All she saw was gold. Eyes of gold, hidden in a shroud of darkness. Her finger squeezed, her eyes closed, and she turned to run away -- a Survivor crumbling in a heap, half its face blown off.

Terror held Chuunitrixx in a vice, her lungs tight -- drawing short, failures of breath, as she stumbled and tried to teleport. However, she was unable to plant her feet and focus on a destination, as she ran through the darkness; shelves casting deep shadows from light sources unseen. Suddenly, she crashed into someone -- the figure turning with eyes of empty, golden voids to meet her, and it reached out to her. Screaming, Chuunitrixx raised her revolver, but fumbled with her shaking hands, and it was thrown to her side... into the cloying darkness.

Breath catching in her throat, Chuunitrixx back up against a shelf, and babbled forth, "[color=forestgreen][b][i]Tribute of blood. Fertilizer of flesh. Fresh-watered wood, grow. Seek, hungrily, more. Devour! [color=white][[i][b]MAN-EATING VINES[/b][/i]][/color]![/i][/b][/color]" Rumbling, the wooden shelf suddenly spawned a mass of vines that ensnared and encapsulated the Golden Eyed figure, and Chuunitrixx ran for it.

She ran, and she ran, and she ran, until she couldn't run further; beyond ESPERs, beyond Goblins, beyond her own Survivors; her feet failed her, crumbling to a heap on the floor.

Where Chuunitrixx’s feet failed her, a pair of arms awaited. Covered in metal, these hands would hold her from falling entirely, supporting her upper body. A cascade of ash colored hair formed a curtain to the figure’s face, bits of vine shredded along the armor the figure wore. Ever so softly they would pluck Chuunitrixx from the ground, delicate in every motion before a soft voice would whisper: [color=B5FFFC][b]”You will be alright. No further harm shall come to one who suffers within these hallowed halls."[/b][/color]

Chuunitrixx looked up, and took in, perhaps, the only person she had admiration and respect for that went beyond Rodias, as Ratta Taz Skor held her from a complete crash. "[color=forestgreen]Skor-senpai! Taz-oneechan! Miss Ratta![/color]" she babbled, unsure what address to use for the time-bending dragoon.

Ratta would smile ever so slightly, her cool facade broken at the terms of endearment thrown at her. [color=B5FFFC][b]”Such formalities are unnecessary. You are my superior, Lady Chuunitrixx. Tell me, what has inflicted your current status? They must have been powerful,”[/b][/color] the woman spoke, ever so slightly adjusting her hold on Chuunitrixx so that she was more comfortable. 

"[color=forestgreen]I don't know. I can't remember. It hurts to try...[/color]" Chuunitrixx says. "[color=forestgreen]I can only remember those eyes. [i]Gold...[/i] [b][i]Empty...[/i][/b] [color=red][i][b]Stop looking at me![/b][/i][/color][/color]" she shouted, as she looked at her own eyes in her reflection off Ratta Taz Skor's gauntlets. "[color=forestgreen]Get away from me![/color]"

Panic was gripping her; her conditions going from "Heavily" to "Critical". If she couldn't get under control, she would risk a  [[i][b]Sanity Break[/b][/i]].

Normally, that just meant a severe as hell 24-hour penalty to EVERYTHING, but... this wasn't YGGDRASILL.

What would follow would be Chuunitrixx getting gingerly slapped across her right cheek by Ratta, the dullahan dragoon’s hand hurting, yes, but not so much as to insinuate she was trying to violently kill Chuunitrixx. Rather, she slapped her to help her compose herself, with a tinge of physical pain letting her refocus on the real, rather than the imaginary. [color=B5FFFC][b]”My eyes are not gold, Chuunitrixx,”[/b][/color] she stated simply, adjusting her hold to not let Chuunitrixx see her gauntlets. [color=B5FFFC][b]”Please, compose yourself. I will bring you to the chapel for healing.”[/b][/color]

Chuunitrixx wasn't ready for a pimp-slap, but the jolt to her senses mended them; for the time being. "[color=forestgreen]Y-Yes...[/color]" she agreed, unable to do much else.

Ratta would adjust Chuunitrixx once again, this time letting her look right into Ratta’s crimson eyes, giving her the assurance that no golden eyes were present. Taking the elevator, Ratta would softly hum to Chuunitrixx, attempting to calm her nerves just a tad. 

Chuunitrixx squeezed her eyes; the tune was familiar. It was causing her pain to remember it, because she couldn't remember why she remembered it, and yet it was relieving her misery, at the same time. Paradoxically, she started to hum in step; trying to wash the bright, green blush off her dusk-hued cheek. Ratta Taz Skor, possibly one of, if not the oldest, NPCs, and second-in-command to the Guild that Droledge built, was carrying her like she was the handsome, gallant prince, and, she, the damsel in distress of a princess.

Ratta didn’t seem to notice the distress she was causing Chuunitrixx and kept on humming, her single level of Bard being put to use even as she stepped off the elevator into the chapel. 

Chuunitrixx was able to distract herself with the eerie feeling that she got whenever she visited a place; like, once, she'd been there. It was a nagging feeling that she had gotten in Flan's Kitchen, as well as Kath's Library, and the Athenania of Historia, as a whole, alongside the Shadowtower Shrine, The Factory, The Beast Pens' Tavern, The City of Lost Things, and the Deeps of Goblinden. Her intuition told her that she'd been here, there, and everywhere,  but she had never left Apocalypse Now...

...right?

Ratta would look to Chuunitrixx, before ever so gently setting her upon her feet. [color=B5FFFC][b]”I will fetch Aurora. Will you be alright until I return?”[/b][/color] the dullahan said, gently grabbing her own head and pulling it free of its neck, and setting it down beside Chuunitrixx. [color=B5FFFC][b]”We can talk until I return,”[/b][/color] she said, as her body wordlessly walked off to find Aurora.

"[color=forestgreen]I am good...[/color]" Chuunitrixx says, as the Chapel was lacking circles of the yellow variety. "[color=forestgreen]I just need to calm my nerves,[/color]" she says, tapping out a toxic cigarette; crushed toxicodendron leaves, rolled in cheap paper. It was hella poisonous to anyone without an outright immunity to [[i][b]Toxic[/b][/i]]. "[color=forestgreen]I'm not sure why my nerves are so blown...[/color]"

[color=B5FFFC][b]”You seem to have suffered intense trauma,”[/b][/color] Ratta said, head rolling slowly into Chuunitrixx’s lap.

"[color=forestgreen]I've never known this feeling,[/color]" Chuunitrixx says, blowing a green cloud into the air. "[color=forestgreen]This is... calming me down, though.[/color]"

[color=B5FFFC][b]”That is good, at least,”[/b][/color] Ratta stated. Many in the church eyed the dullahan in awe...namely since, as far as anyone has known, Ratta has been absent since the guild’s transportation into the new world.

Chuunitrixx stroked Ratta’s hair, absently, with her free hand. Her mind was drifting, for the first time, as she smoked. Distracted, she just drew and blew, until she released the butt, and exhaled that last dreg. "[color=forestgreen]Is this fear...[/color]" she asks, philosophically.

[color=B5FFFC][b]”If you are afraid, then yes, it is fear,”[/b][/color] Ratta stated simply, enjoying the feleing of her hair being stroked. [color=B5FFFC][b]”Certain immunities are capable of being bypassed, after all. A being immune to lightning soaked in water loses that immunity. Perhaps you were so steeped in fear that it broke through.”[/b][/color]

"[color=forestgreen]I don’t like it. I’m supposed to be fearless, unshakeable,[/color]" Chuunitrixx says. "[color=forestgreen]Apocalypse Now cannot be defended by a coward. Too much rides on my keeping my Chapter from being torn out,[/color]" she says, "[color=forestgreen]Now, I’m unable to keep my nerve, and... I don’t like it.[/color]"

[color=B5FFFC][b]”There is only so much one person can do alone. Even with your mimic helpers, you are largely faced with challenges that you need help with.”[/b][/color]

"[color=forestgreen]I was not made to need help,[/color]" Chuunitrixx says.

[color=B5FFFC][b]”I was not made to rescue anyone save for the weakest members of Bandersnatch. Yet, here I am saving you from yourself,”[/b][/color] Ratta said.

"[color=forestgreen]I’m not weak![/color]" Chuunitrixx says, her eyes flaring up gold.

[color=B5FFFC][b]”You didn’t listen. I was saying you are strong.”[/b][/color] Ratta said, flatly.

"[color=forestgreen]Huh...???[/color]" Chuunitrixx tilted her head. "[color=forestgreen]I am strong, and confused.[/color]"

[color=B5FFFC][b]”Then, think.”[/b][/color] Ratta said, her body returning with Aurora.

Chuunitrixx nodded. "[color=forestgreen]I’m thinking... I don’t know what to do,[/color]" she says.

Ratta would re-attach her head, before gently laying her hand on Chuunitrixx’s shoulder. [color=B5FFFC][b]”You don’t have to know. You just have to think.”[/b][/color]

Chuunitrixx frowned. What was she supposed to think about?

Ratta would reach her hand up to gingerly pat Chuunitrixx’s head, stating: [color=B5FFFC][b]”Think of what your duty is, what it is that you want to do to achieve it, and what you’re willing to do to help others with their duties that intertwine with your own. That is what Bandersnatch was built upon.”[/b][/color]

"[color=forestgreen]My duty? I have to protect Rodias, and everyone else; no matter how they feel about me,[/color]" Chuunitrixx says. "[color=forestgreen]To achieve that, I’m going to expand the Chateau into a Necropolis; a nation unto itself,[/color]" she says, firmly, "[color=forestgreen]As for the rest... they hate me, distrust me, and speak poorly of me, probably, so why would I intertwine myself with them? Allow them credit for my efforts? I’m already being copied as is, with everyone having minions to fight with...[/color]"

Ratta would wordlessly embrace Chuunitrixx, stroking her hair softly. [color=B5FFFC][b]”Because, we all are born of one purpose, Chuunitrixx. We all simply realize it in different ways.”[/b][/color]

"[color=forestgreen]I’d like it if they realized it in ways that didn’t make me feel insignificant,[/color]" Chuunitrixx says. "[color=forestgreen]Have you seen that travesty that Graft prides himself in, and parades around. A mishmosh of flesh and sealants; nothing on scale with my Overseers, nor my Ascendants, if I hadn’t been so hasty in my actions,[/color]" she says, "[color=forestgreen]And, then, there’s Kaldorna. Her thralls and vampires. Pretending to have some sort of high-class, when they are nothing but bottom feeding vegan-pires. I offered her a change, a chance to step out of the shadows, and she scoffed in my face.[/color]" Chuunitrixx gripped her head for a moment, but she fished out another smoke, "[color=forestgreen]Then, there’s goddamn Flan and Mamoru, and that Baron Cat Bastard. Acting as they please, showing no respect, but demanding it. My kitchen. My ball. My -- My -- My -- [/color]" she groaned, before taking a long drag, and going silent. "[color=forestgreen]My point is... I don’t like it... And, I thought, I could change my scenery, and find myself... and, all I found was fear,[/color]" she says, after the longest, resting her elbows on her knees, as she changed back into herself, "[color=forestgreen]My purpose is to suffer, that’s what I think, the slings and arrows of others judgements, despite ten hard years of dutiful service without asking so much as a thank you in acknowledgement.[/color]"

"[color=forestgreen]Nnn...![/color]" Chuunitrixx squeezed her hands against her head. "[color=ebaf4c]I’m not a frog! I’m not![/color]" she shouted, voice distorting, "[color=ebaf4c]I’m not in a shallow pond! Shut up! Shut up![/color]" 

Ratta would reach out once Chuunitrixx shouted, gently holding her steady as Aurora set about trying to cure her ailments, more curses than full on debuffs. [color=B5FFFC][b]”I know you’re not, Chuunitrixx...shh…”[/b][/color]

"[color=forestgreen]They called me a frog...[/color]" Chuunitrixx groaned, "[color=ebaf4c]Those eyes called me a frog...[/color]"

Ratta would look right into Chuunitrixx’s eyes. [color=B5FFFC][b]”Those eyes are not here.”[/b][/color]

Chuunitrixx shuddered, and nodded. "[color=forestgreen]I know. I know.[/color]" she says. "[color=forestgreen]I can’t stop seeing them, though[/color]"

Ratta would smile warmly, an expression that was typically absent from the dullahan’s face. [color=B5FFFC][b]”I will protect you. And everyone in Bandersnatch. No one, gold eyes or silver, will hurt anyone here,”[/b][/color] she promised, while Aurora continued her healing work. 

"[color=forestgreen]But, you are supposed to defend Our Lord, King Droledge,[/color]" Chuunitrixx says. "[color=forestgreen]D-Don’t trouble yourself over me, or anyone -- especially me. I’m not worth your attention.[/color]"

[color=B5FFFC][b]”Do you presume that Droledge would want me to simply wile away my time in solitude, defending nothing because he isn’t here? No. I know not my King’s heart, but I know that this was his home. And you are an extension of him. Of all the Sable Lords,”[/b][/color] Ratta said, quickly adding: [color=B5FFFC][b]”A knight never falters. This entire castle is Droledge.”[/b][/color]

"[color=forestgreen]Sounds like Enderall,[/color]" Chuunitrixx says, tilting her head.

[color=B5FFFC][b]”Whether it is a building, or a person, I will not allow harm to come to this place,”[/b][/color] Ratta said, while Aurora managed to, over the course of talking, dispel the Terrified curse that plagued Chuunitrixx.

"[color=forestgreen]If anyone can do it, it would be you,[/color]" Chuunitrixx says.

[color=B5FFFC][b]”You flatter me. But, I can do nothing without all of you,”[/b][/color] Ratta said, manifesting her lance from her inventory and smiling. [color=B5FFFC][b]”Will you be alright from here on? I can stay if you need.”[/b][/color]

"[color=forestgreen]I think, I’ll be okay,[/color]" Chuunitrixx says. "[color=forestgreen]You should stretch your legs.[/color]"

[color=B5FFFC][b]”I see. I will return if you call,”[/b][/color] Ratta said, before turning and, without moving, simply vanished. 

"[color=forestgreen]She’s so cool~![/color]" Chuunitrixx squealed. Her teleport totally wasn’t based off her senpai’s. Not at all. [i]No way, b-baka.[/i]

That would be a bit hard, considering hers was based off of stopping [i]time[/i].

Chuunitrixx sighed, as she just waited for Aurora to be finished. Doctors were boring...

"[color=forestgreen]I wonder if I should attend that party I wasn’t invited to,[/color]" she asks, before relaxing. "[color=forestgreen]Hey, think I can get a massage off you?[/color]"

That would get her smacked upside the head lightly with a pocket bible.

"[color=forestgreen]It’s just a massage![/color]" Chuunitrixx whined, unable to not smirk. "[color=forestgreen]If you wanna get a little sinful in your touches, I’m sure your God will forgive, if you’re doing it in good faith, and helping me feel better is darn good faith.[/color]"

More bibles.

"[color=forestgreen]Okay! Okay! Yeesh! Can you pray for a sense of humour...[/color]" Chuunitrixx griped, before relaxing; blissfully ignorant of the hell that was fast approaching.
[/hider]