Nostalgic. Comfort and revulsion mixed together as its thoughts struggled to grasp at the ethereal threads that were its memories. Its mind was empty, opinions and memories stripped away by what it presumed to have been itss death, but still, the imprint was there. Like footprints covered by snowfall, the phantom was remained. A father, a mother, a lover, a daughter. No passion followed the faceless shadows that melted away in its thoughts, but it offered it some solace.
At least it once had such things. Though it may not exist in this ruined world, it must have existed somewhere before. There was a trace of its past self in the land where it once lived. That imprint, that mark too, was enough.
It wasn’t a lost soul, it decided, unseen eyes gazing over the self-same companions that the Goddess brought in two at a time. It once was something, someone. Not just a lost soul. Not just forgotten, abandoned, left behind by time. Nor fated and chosen, a mere slave to an identity placed upon him by this horned deva.
It was simply wandering.
The void above threatened to swallow it up in its enormity. Its ethereal nature was absolutely mind-boggling, its own hands passing through its misty form. The wreckage, organized as it was, tore at its still-soft heart with its terrible beauty and wondrous desolation. So many sights to brand into its nubile mind, but it was the words of the Goddess that caught its attention. The Grand Journey. The First Challenge. The fragrance of nostalgia overcame its senses once more, the wisp shuddering in a mixture of delight and horror, pleasure and irritation. Like an itch it couldn’t scratch, photographs rolling in their abyssal grave.
It was something that was removed instantly by the pagan Goddess’s sudden transformation. A sword of silver. An ivory aberration. A gaze that promised death once more. Countless irrational thoughts squirmed within, a thousand deaths flashing before its eyes regardless of rationality. Bones that did not exist, turning into powder at the slightest twitch. Brains that did not exist, crushed into pulp at the thought of fighting back. Flesh that did not exist, bursting with goosebumps. A desire for a weapon, even though its ghostly strength was lacking, even though a rock meant nothing against a Goddess. In the face of the eldritch abomination, the wisp’s fear was first and foremost, but a rebellious undercurrent ebbed beneath, oozing different thoughts.
Violent thoughts.
It vanished like morning dew as the threat of extermination subsided, her charming appearance overriding the lingering dread, her promise that they would face greater predators than herself lighting that spark within it once more. A spark that illuminated the one meaningful question within his strange mind, discarding the value of practical knowledge.
In regards to our wisp dudes, are you planning on them eventually recalling their past life and such? Or is the growth of Essence something that is all present/future related, and they'll never actually have a backstory?
@CyanideSweetie@Rune_Alchemist@Flamelord Pulling the plug on this RP after all. Guess my interest died with half the RP cast poofing without much of a word. Sorry.
Of course everything would go to hell. Always did, didn't it? Looking at the carnage that was taking place across the city, Zoe couldn't help but worry for her teammates. Not to mention the others that were around here. There was every chance that she'd have gotten someone killed because she was a goddamned idiot. Ernie's transmission only reinforced that idea, although hearing it from someone else, never mind him, had still been irritating.
This wasn't good. None of this was good. Her scowl had only deepened as the transmission ended, and her mood wasn't anywhere near improving as they made their way back down the street towards Brent and Gregory's location. To make matters worse, the throbbing pain in her leg was starting to grow almost familiar. It wasn't distracting enough, and her gaze would occasionally flit towards Allison, a dangerous hunger in her expression. It would be so easy to just--
They weren't too far from where she'd been trapped under the debris, their progress slower than she would have liked - a quick glance backward confirmed that the slime was catching up. She wanted to focus on the slime, but her mind had chosen more appealing targets. Speaking of which... "Allison-- Stay a little further ahead. Please." Zoe spoke shortly, but couldn't quite keep her emotions out of her voice. Burning, clawing, want that would be so easy to get rid of. Not much longer. The other two couldn't be far away now.
Even down below, on the ground, Brent felt the heat of the flames. Focused more on arriving in time than observing the sky, the Arbiter didn't realize that it was the flames of another that had eradicated the ominous skylight, not until Ernie's voice sounded once more. So he was the spotter now? And he wasn't fighting the ice golem after all? The brunette picked up the pace. Hazel had lost it again. Cat's Cradle had done something, perhaps even attacked civilians, inciting further chaos. And now, the screams in the background of the Evacuation Team's transmissions were becoming more pronounced, more violent.
And, right in front of his eyes, Brent could see Zoe and Allison and the gargantuan mass of the slime monster. How close was it to them? How much time did they have left?
Not enough.
His own thoughts this time.
"Zoe, Allison," Brent shouted, "Office building to the left! We need elevation now!"
Shards of broken glass crunched beneath his feet as he leapt over an abandoned car, running towards a dark, multi-story building full of jagged, broken windows. WIthout the tinted glass, the lights that were left on within gave Brent some hope still. It was tall, seven stories at a glance, but if the elevators worked still...
"Grego, ditch the guns if they're too heavy. I'll manage with what I have," the arbiter said, striding into the abandoned lobby of the complex. Here too, were signs of a rushed retreat, droplets of blood splattering the marble floor, someone's purse abandoned, coffee mixing with pulverized glass. Two minutes, perhaps, before the slime washed over the building.
Not enough.
He didn't even have time to worry about Siena, Marcus, Angelic, and the others in this situation.
This was just a right clusterfuck wasn’t it? Things didn’t wait for Gregory to digest the last, just a spiral of bad news and escalation with no end in sight. The ice golem was gone, but considering who the hell had taken care of it, he wasn’t sure if the trade-off was worth it. The ice golem had been big, visible, and most notably somewhat under control thanks to Kadabra. Cat’s Cradle being nearby? That was a whole nother degree of terrifying. Of course in the time he thought about that, it sounded like half a dozen other problems had come through the phone Brent carried and their cuffs.
What a fantastic day~
Sliding over the hood after Brent, Gregory looked at the building that had caught the Arbiter’s eye and scoffed as he kept up. “Gotta carry something around here,” he muttered before stopping just outside rather than following him inside. “Elevator working?” He called out as he looked in and out of the building, wondering if he needed to get out there and help. Only slightly more appealing than throwing himself into the slime if he was to be honest, but then again he rarely was nowadays.
Brent punched the 'up' button as Gregory called out, and narrowed his eyes. No LED display showing any numbers, no sound of grinding gears, no 'ding ding ding' for an elevator to descend. Only cries for help, trailing down the shaft. Of course there were people stuck there. Of course they were crying out. But right now, considering the nature of the monster sweeping down the streets, being inside a building, inside a metal box, may be safer than being out in the open.
"No," the arbiter called back, "Elevator's not working. We're taking the stairs!"
Roof wasn't an option now, not with Zoe as she was currently. Fourth floor then. That'd have to do.
Forcing herself to break into a jog - or as close to it as she could manage with her limp - Zoe had made her way towards the building with a grimace. It was difficult to get her thoughts in order. The urge was quickly growing past a simple want into something much closer to need. Rabid.
If she just waited for a few more seconds, they'd all be in her range at once. If she did it one by one they would maybe be able to finish her off, but they'd have to work together. All at once? Hard to do anything when your eyes were bubbling in your--
No. No, no, no. As she came close to the door, she raised her head. The same murder in her eyes that there had been the day before, with almost none of the restraint. Monster or human, Zoe was very obviously going to hurt something soon. She couldn't help but smile at the noise as she entered the building. Screaming, they were screaming. But it was fear, only fear. Not pain. Not yet. Turning to the others, she spoke just a little too casually. "Go on ahead. You've gotta prepare, right?" Her gaze flitted towards the elevator for a brief second. "I won't take long."
Allison came to a slow stop, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. She felt as if she was about to puke. Zoe was ready to kill anyone nearby, there was a giant slime monster they needed to kill, and they had all been in a falling building only a few minutes ago. It was overwhelming to say the least. The panicked screams of civilians wasn't exactly helping.
Allison became more frustrated with every bit of noise that sounded her. She would do anything for some peace and quiet at that moment, just to give herself the time to think. But no, instead her mind rushed with every horrible scenario that could possibly occur, at least half of which were sexual. It was all giving the girl a headache. Allison gritted her teeth. Stabbing something seemed like a really good idea, and Zoe was right there, obviously wanting to kill all the innocent, screaming nobodies around them.
"Zoe," Allison spoke up in between quick breaths, "If you hurt anyone, anyone at all..." Allison paused for a moment. "Just don't, alright? Just get up there and kill the fucking monster. Just get up the stairs. If you don't think you can, take one fucking step at a time. Just. Don't. Kill. Anyone." Allison had half a mind to just collapse the building, to save herself the stress. "And don't tell me that you can't, because you can. Don't tell me that it's not that easy, I fucking know that. You can kill the fucking monster, not anyone innocent." Allison turned to head up the stairs.
Zoe looked back at Allison. Innocent? Really? No, she was right. Zoe may have been ruthless, but she didn't kill indiscriminately. It was always for a reason, but didn't these assholes deserve it at least a little? No. That was childish. Pathetic. She was better than that kind of tantrum. But her stigma-driven brain couldn't help interpreting her teammate's words as a challenge. A threat. Took more willpower than she would have liked not to chase the girl down. Tear her apart.
"Who says they'd die? That's so much less fu--" Zoe didn't quite realise she was speaking, shock crossing her expression briefly. "It's fine, I'm fine. Don't lecture me. I'll try. Sorry." But the need was painful, and perhaps worse, she knew how easy it would be to replace it all with good. That joy, that pleasure, that indescribable rush. She knew she had no rights to be making a moral stand, but this wasn't her.
Walking over to the shattered glass on the floor, she grabbed some shards in a clenched fist, smiling softly as blood welled between her fingers. Forcing her tone to stay level, she seemed to come back to herself somewhat. Enjoying the pain, though it didn't sate as much as she'd hoped it would. "Fuck, that hurts." She raised her head, looking towards the stairs with sudden clarity. More like herself again than the barely-controlled monster. "Should be good enough for now. Go. I won't hurt anyone." Brent, Gregory, and Allison arrived at the fifth floor of the building without much trouble, leading to an open area filled with desks. Despite the earthquake that had abrupting passed, monitors were still flickering, the quiet hum of personal computers resounding. It was eerie, how whirring fans could be heard even as screams resounded from the shaft, even as chaos continuously spewed from the cuff transmitter. Shattered windows afforded a view of the slime that was almost upon them now, the gelatinous mass oozing at a steady rate through the buildings. They were on the fifth floor though. Unless something changed dramatically, such as the slime suddenly becoming aware of their presence and actively working to destroy them, they would be left undetected, right?
Ugh, if only they knew what sensory organs it used.
If only they had much more information than they currently did.
If only Zoe was more stable.
If only Gregory was more powerful.
If only he could do it himself.
Brent swallowed the saliva building up, shaking his head to clear it of unnecessary thoughts.
"We need hollow tubes to carry Zoe's power in," Brent said, "Chair legs, lamp post, anything like that. Gregory, bring them over. Allison, cut them to size. I'll mold them into a spear-like shape. After that, paper or something to hold hair or blood, whichever is a better conduit for Zoe's ability. Got it?"
"Alright." Allison looked back towards the stairs for a moment before returning her attention to the office space around them. Of course Brent needed Allison to cut stuff, but considering her power only ran for a minute it would be useless to just stand there and run things like a conveyer belt. Might as well help search. Her legs carried her to the nearest desk. Her eyes searched for the stuff they needed. It wasn't exactly hard to find, but they also didn't have a lot of time.
Tossing the bag of guns down with a slight huff, Gregory spared a moment to stare at the slime as it flowed steadily closer before. "Why not head to one of the bathrooms then? Plenty of piping we can tear out, and it'll probably work better too."
In spite of the situation, Brent grinned. "You would know about bathrooms, wouldn't you? I'll watch the slime. See if it does anything unexpected then. You two can go hunting."
"Okay." Stripping the pipes from a bathroom didn't exactly sound pleasant, but there was no time to argue. "Lead the way," she motioned to Greg.
Dumping the guns and ammunition out onto a table, Greg slung the empty bag over a shoulder and made his way over to the bathrooms on this floor. Sticking his head into each of them quickly, he pushes the door open to one before pointing at the wall lined with sinks. "1 by 1 meter blocks? Don't go more than half a way up." He stepped back a bit to let her work, and to avoid getting hosed down by water.
Allison kept her distance from the wall, she wasn't exactly keen to be doused in water. Still, she had to be somewhat close for precision. She summoned the shard, about 5 feet away from the wall, and began cutting through the wall. In about thirty seconds, Allison had divided the bottom half of the sink-lined wall into several 1 by 1 meter cubes which, sure enough, had been spewing water across the room as she cut them.
Gregory waited for her to make a few more cuts before he gave the first block a sharp kick to knock it out of place. With the pipes cut further down, he managed to pull aside the wall piece without getting blasted with water and grab the cut up pieces of piping. They clinked as he tossed them into the bag, and he followed her handiwork, pausing midway. Looking up from within the wall, he stuck his head out and gestured above where he was. "Can you just stick your shard in at... the two and a half meter mark?" With that said, he returned to filling the bag with the already cut pieces, amassing what he imagined should be plenty.
They'd been gone for maybe two or three minutes tops before Gregory called out for Brent's attention. The bag clattered noisily, filled with meter long lengths of pipes of varying diameters as he dropped it on the ground. On his other shoulder, he carried the biggest piece. Wide enough to fit an arm down and 1.5m long. "Guess it's time to work your magic?"
"Yup." Brent replied, eyes still on the slime monster that was now oozing by, the veins and organs clearly in sight. The first and second floors of the building must have already been flooded by its gelatinous form, but the foundation of the building stayed strong. They still had time then, an invisible, uncertain timer that pit the digestive ability of the monster against the building's concrete foundation.
Rolling up his sleeves, Brent sat down, crosslegged, and began to work, taking the thinnest pipes first. With jolts of silver, he improved the malleability of the material until they could be molded within his hands, before tapering it. The metal gave way underneath his hand as he pulled and twisted, forming a slender javelin with an open end. His power released itself soon after, but the form remained. Just like how broken guns remained broken after his power left, other alterations in form not directly caused by his Overclocks seemed to stay consistent as well.
"First of many," the arbiter said, handing it over to Gregory, "Gotta put something organic inside for Zoe, and then you can set up the sniping point."
His eyes narrowed as he peeked over the ledge once more, where the jelly beast oozed on.
"Hopefully one is all you'll need."
Taking Brent's spot as slime watcher, Gregory swore he could feel the building shake as tons of slime flooded the lower floors. Hopefully the elevators weren't too low, though it'd probably be pretty easy to find out. Sparing a glance to watch Brent's progress he looked at the projectile and then back at the slime. "Yeah... hopefully." Realistically though? He couldn't imagine getting it in one. The slime was too dense, his projectiles too slow, his control limited as all hell, and the slime's own movements were just some of the reasons he could think of as he watched it continue along its path, either unaware or uncaring of their presence.
A transforming individual? Yuuki’s eyes glanced over the white knight’s armor and weapon momentarily, taking in the almost toy-like appearance of Jin. It wasn’t all that impressive, but the power that resided within Yuuki still pulled at him, very slightly. He could use this. He could use it better than the person using it right now.
That plastic-esque armor wasn’t even at its third form.
He suppressed the need though, focusing instead on the enemy that stood before them. Mask off, it was clearer than ever that his intentions were foul, that he most likely intended on killing the two of them and then to crash the convention center and cause a bloody mess. To think that even the peaceful world he came from had devolved due to bastards like this popping up.
Yuuki made an oath in his heart.
He would protect the everyday life he was finally close to attaining.
The brunette moved as a pistol was whipped out, diving to the side at the sound of four concussive blasts sounded, echoing through district. It would be clear enough. They would all have heard such a loud sound.
“Keep him off me!” Yuuki shouted, running towards the large building.
There was killing intent there, enough that his brain went into overdrive, Yuuki’s blue eyes lighting up with alarm as Kyoran’s eyes narrowed. Dangerous weaklings were his weakness, in the end. Not powerful enough to justify levelling a mountain for, but violent enough to be a threat regardless. His friends would have taken care of individuals like this. But they weren’t here, and the only thing he could take comfort in was the fact that the man hadn’t started shooting yet.
Didn’t want to cause trouble directly. At least, not now. Wanted someone else to pull the trigger first.
Bastard. “Thanks a bunch!” he beamed at the sorceress girl as she handed the grenade to him, “I really appreciate it. And Kyou, c’mon now, don’t just spoil everything!”
His eyes caught the banner that decorated the building they were beside, familiar characters forming words that he understood clearly. A Cosplay Convention. It felt like years, but it must have only been months since he had ‘died’, huh? Thank god he hadn’t skipped over an entire era. His family must still be alive then! Mulling in his thoughts, Yuuki almost didn’t catch the explanation on the grenade.
Go crazy and kill each other?
Just like AZRAEL, except distilled into a commonplace weapon. Perhaps this Kyoran was a third-rate villain, but the universe he belonged to? Images of writhing flesh and tortured faces emerged, a world razed by its blood-mad inhabitants. He shook his head. Not now.
“Really sorry about this, but we do have to get going now. Can’t miss out on signing up and all,” Yuuki said, still all smiles, “You bunch should head in as well. I recommend you getting some real good spots, cause, well…EX-Ranker’s gotta be showing off his armory, right? I promise you that the little fireworks display that comes with Kyou’s bombs won’t even compare to the legendary artifacts within the Tor Von Weishcallt!”
Yankee
Altered Tundra
Alisdragon911
stone
VitaVitaAR
Animal
LanaStorm
Ohm
Haha
Shovel
