Lugubrious

Skullgirls: Parasite's Paradise

I assume that Roflsmazoy is a no-show?

Skullgirls: Parasite's Paradise

Upset that some random stranger had dared to break the normal order and intrude upon his doings, Grumm whirled around. The clockwork arm flashed by, easily forty pounds of solid metal thrown in a vigorous slap that could have dislocated Morgann's jaw had it connected. Fortunately, the savage blow fell short, and when he saw that it had, Grumm spewed forth a spray of bile that created a miniature miasma between the monster and the magician. While he didn't speak, punctuating his attack with an angry sputtering noise instead, the message was clear: back off.

Grumm then turned away, with no reason to believe that a simple civilian would persist in the suicidal act of provoking an undead armed with a Living Weapon. A flick of the mechanical tentacle whose maw was holding Halte aloft flung the former pirate in the ghoul's direction. With practiced efficiency not completely offset by the sorry state of his body, Grumm brought his axe up in a cruel diagonal arc meant to cleave the incoming Halte in two. At the last moment, however, Halte brought her boots around so that they were facing Grumm, and from their soles twin blasts of water gushed forth. They splashed against Grumm's face, disorienting the creature and slowing down Halte's fall enough to avoid the headsman's weapon completely. Immediately after, Halte landed with both feet planting on Grumm's face, causing him to grumble in protest. Before he could grab her, however, Halte kicked off, flipping through the air to land twenty feet away in a spray of mist.

The next second, Grumm leaped into the air, hissing like a sick cat. More noxious bile spewed from his face as he sailed toward his target. Halte steadied herself before raising a leg and slamming her boot into the ground, causing a jet of water to erupt from the marble beneath Grumm as he landed a yard away from her. Beneath her mouthpiece, Halte smiled grimly, only to cry out in pain as her foe dealt her a crushing hydraulic punch. She staggered away and collapsed to the ground, holding her stomach as if her guts had been liquified, her vehement curses lost in a wave of furious static from her mouthpiece. Though sopping wet and even more flustered than normal, Grumm had executed his Rot Wrecker without more than a split-second's delay. Only a few seconds had passed, but it already seemed that the duel had been decided.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Ahriman Kore Agesander

"Not this time. I'll let you in on a little secret: you should save your strength for my end-of-the-hour event. You'll be participating in that one."

Some time passed.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Ahriman broke out into a chuckle. Certainly, some of the students were distinguishing themselves with their seemingly endless push-up capacity, but there were a certain few who -for some reason or another- didn't quite carry the torch. The Professor's momentary merriment wasn't at those students' expense; rather, he was reminding himself of the trials he would have to go through to teach each student at their own wavelength. No single course of education would serve to get every future hunter and huntress that passed his way into tip-top physical condition. For today, however, he would stick to routine. It would be a short time before the adaptation could begin.

“Alright, enough push-ups for now!” He grinned. With a baseline of his students' physical limitations in mind, the class could move on. “I expect that each of you will continue to improve. The hour will soon be coming to a close, but before you get washed up and head off to your sixth periods, we're going to get to those 'few other things' that I mentioned earlier.”

With cheery, eager strides, he moved across the floor to an adjoining room. Moments later he returned with a big smile and a small piece of technology in his hand that looked very much like a remote control. “Your legs and arms and abdominals should be tired by now. That's good. On the first day, I think we ought to treat ourselves to a little competition. An omen of what's to come.” He quickly tapped several pads on the remote, and the floor of the gymnasium began to move. Panels began to slide down and away, revealing more platforms that rose to ground level overflowing with various objects. There were ropes with grappling hooks, poles for vaulting, and even two pogo sticks, but mostly there were blocks of various sizes and shapes. A noise from the ceiling of the gym akin to a wrestling bell alerted the class to a glinting, yellow, metal object suspended from another rope about twenty-five feet above their heads, situated among the horizontal beams that helped support the ceiling.

The various looks of confusion given to Ahriman were met only with a conniving grin. “Here's how it's gonna work! Up there near the ceiling is a medallion. I want all of you to touch it. Once you've touched it, you can head out into the locker room and get cleaned up. How are you going to touch it, I wonder? Jump? That'd be a pretty big jump even if your legs weren't sore. Sling up a rope and climb? Touch stuff for kids who've just done fifty-plus push-ups. There are even less practical methods. Personally I advise using those blocks to build your way up, but be warned: the big ones, while easy to climb, are quite heavy, and the thinner ones are harder to stack and will require acute balance. The first person to touch the medallion might even get a surprise. Don't even think about using any special semblances; all I want is aura use to prevent ouchies if you happen to fall. Get going, children!”

Dungeon Keepers (This one's done. Go to The Horde of Evil instead)

Not one among the present Journeymen took Emily's departure as anything less than a curt dismissal, but they made no reply or move to stop her. The last thing that each of them saw before the white light overtook them was the fire that propelled Emily through the air, like a warning flare of bad things to come.

When the light faded, all of them -just like every other Traveler present in Monolith- felt slightly reinvigorated, but it was nothing compared to what the Workers experienced. For Travelers, Blessings were like snacks: quite nice, but not completely necessary. For Workers, Blessings were nothing less of the whole deal. Feeling the surge of life energy bestowed upon them by Providence, the Workers felt their fatigue lift away, allowing them to renew their labor. The legends of the Cypriots say that every immortal must regularly consume an elixir, and for the city of legends, the myths were remarkably accurate. That holy radiance washing down from the peak of Monolith was what allowed them to live forever.

Though the Journeymen were touched by the warm, spiritual feeling common to all, they had business to attend to. In their own speeds, they returned to their seats on the Sestet, and when their beacons blazed skyward, Marowit and Diver rejoined them. Salvadore, somewhat bitter over Emily's parting words, took a few moments getting to the heart of the matter. “It never ceases to impress me that so many outsiders can think so little of our holy spirit. It is not until after they experience the miracle that they change their tune. Emily is not as friendly as she makes herself appear. Even if she did not have many more minds rattling about in her skull, I would not trust her. When dealing with monsters one must take care that oneself does not also become a monster, and she has been dealing with demons, Keepers, and perhaps worse a long time.” His tone became mocking. “So, fellow Journeymen. How best should we go about counting the days we have left?”

Nearly a half dozen voices attempted to answer, but Marowit's steely calm cut through them all. “Your pride belittles the truth it masks, but it is nevertheless truth. In the time after I left, before I rejoined this council, I warped across the country.” The experience had left her far more fatigued than she would have let on, but her reconnaissance was too important for personal discomfort. Marowit was, due in equal parts to her gift and her nature, one of the greatest assets of Monolith. “I visited my usual sources, but I did not get very far before being resummoned. There are whispers of strange things, new and dangerous things, all across the land. In the west, villagers have described a gorgeous, icy demoness who freezes and consumes her victims. A southern logging town is being harangued by creatures part ant and part man. That is all I have for now. There is a reasonable chance that the land is in greater jeopardy.”

“Please continue to scour the countryside for clues...but take it easier next time, Maro. You need not exhaust yourself traveling such distances for information,” rumbled Sen-sen, who knew his sister's habits too well. The broad-shouldered Traveler prided himself on his analysis, and with the enigmatic Marowit, the patterns of action she took were the least troublesome to see. “I propose that we reroute twenty percent of our city's total labor to the construction of fortification and weapons for our own city. Let us not divert from the divisions that supply the Cypriots their own arms, however. Even if the risk is small for now, we must rise to meet the task. We will not be the generation that allows Monolith to fall.”

Diver's perpetual smile greeted the proposal. “Deal! Nobody's gonna spoil these waters.”
Elvilika shrugged. “Whatever,” she yawned. “Workers gotta work on something.”
Kai gave a solemn nod. “Perhaps thirty percent would be better. We have little to lose.”
Sen-sen looked around, and received a few nods. “Very well.”
Marowit gave a stiff nod.”
“Then it is agreed,” Salvadore said. He stood up on his seat and stepped down into the dias. Other council members did the same; this time, all had something to do. “I will return to Salvation, where my presence is needed. When you feel up to it, Marowit, resume your search.” The black-eyed Traveler apparently took offense to his terminology—she vanished immediately. This did not disturb Salvadore, who spoke jointly to Elvilika and Udo Koro Kai next. “Winterkin, relay the labor decree through the amplifier and then start informing the other Travelers. And Diver...it is time for you to head to the zenith and commune with the oracle of Providence.”

-=-=-

A ripple spread across the Flesh, as if something nasty and unpleasant had touched it and provoked a quiver of disgust. The Progenitor, bent over a particularly engaged corpse, shifted its gaze to the maggots and beetles squirming among the heaps of tissue that littered the pit. It watched, briefly toying with the notion of gathering them up for biomass, but eventually turned its soulless gaze on the vile thing that hunkered at the edge of its domain. Bal'Tazor was bigger than the Progenitor, in all senses, and certainly repulsive. And yet, when the avatar of the Flesh That Hates looked upon the bloated demon that had ventured to call it a child, its eyes held something akin to pity. Did this wretch think itself superior to the Flesh? Perhaps it was. It would, however, be the work of moments to find out. The Flesh that Hates would learn from Bal'Tazor, and thereby judge whether it was fit to join the plague or to feed it. No meat was too toxic for the Flesh to adapt to consume it.

The two mouths of the Progenitor, both on its face and on its torso, began to move in sync. They undulated in a fit of noises, a language not only foreign to to the region, but Cyprus itself. Come, so that I may know you. Instant Mutation: Lash. The flesh of the Progenitor's arms instantly began to bubble and break. Viscous liquids, in all arrays of colors, seeped from the reformatting flesh. Noxious gases arose from the crackling pores, filling the rotten air with uncanny odors. In seconds, the arms of the Progenitor metamorphosed from those of men to something entirely different. They were like tentacles of some sea creature, but webbed with muscle and tissue scarring, able to expand and contract, and on their tips were talons. Without a moment's further delay, the Progenitor swung its lashes at Bal'Trazor, seizing it and pulling it down into the pit.

The instant the demon touched the Flesh, the Flesh began to wither from the aura of pestilence the creature exuded. Even over the span of a few seconds, however, it began to change. With the Heart -the source of new mutations- so close, it was taking the disease cocktail in rather than resisting it and perishing. More to the point, however, the Progenitor let go with its lashed, waiting for Bal'Trazor to make a move. The learning had begun.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

The people I named aren't necessarily in danger...yet. I just want confirmation of their continued presence.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

I feel like some text got cut off on your post there @Lugubrious

Seems as though you are about to say you want to maintain the lettering of team JRVR. This will be a bit of a rework, but doable.

I actually considered that earlier but wasn't sure which of the 4 letters was open, since I don't know which character left the story. So laziness won out and I played my chances and made my profile without asking which letter to use.

Edit: I'm considering JCerulean, VCerulean, and RCerulean.

Edit again: I will also make the argument that teams change due to extraneous circumstances within the story so lettering might change after all. Like if Blake ran away to be a Faunus rebel, surely they'd get a new member with a new name. :P But this is my naivety at the equity you have in the JRVR brand.

@Tenoren

Sorry about that. Now that I consider it, Jayden's not even really the team leader, so 'R' ought to be first. Forget what I said and I'll just whip up a new name. How does RJCV - Team Radioactive, sound?

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Tenoren
Alright, you're going to hate me for this, but I found something that I'd like you to do concerning your character. With some of the team names, changing them doesn't matter so much, but if possible I'd like you to consider changing either the first or last name of your character to something starting with N, G, A, D, or R, so that we can keep Jormungandur, if nothing else because it's awesome.

There are dedicated sites for that >_> With people that don't quote direct speech or start every paragraph with their character's name *stops before he starts ranting again* xD

@Forsythe

@Skyrte You wound me, you really do.

True. However, it would only be an option, something to occupy time when an IC post is unnecessary. If more people are in favor of such an idea, I might reconsider, but for now we'll stay as we have been.

@Eklispe
It has been 23 days since Psyrencalling has even been online, so fortunately for you there is an opening after all on team GJMM. Make a sheet and you'll be in as quickly as Tenoren. However, if you have any doubts about your ability to commit to this RP, please do not join. Nothing hurts me more than people leaving my RPs on anything less than a technicality.

We've had so many noble souls lost lately that it hurts my heart. It is time to gather ourselves up and keep moving toward a brighter tomorrow, a grand story we can all contribute to. Roll call!

@Tearstone @Krayzikk @Kaithas @Awesomoman64 @Lokileo789 @Sixsmith @Agent B52 @Paigesweetheart @TentacleLord

Those I haven't mentioned have assured me recently of their committal and have my complete faith.

Skullgirls: Parasite's Paradise

Forty minutes was a long time to be on the run from anyone, even with four extra skeletal arms that never got tired as support. The girl's feet hurt so abominably that she could feel the beats of her heart pumping blood through them, and her every breath tore through her throat. A while back she had thrown out the idea of taking on Grumm in a fair fight. It wasn't that she couldn't win, no—simply that she had never been very good at tackling her problems head-on. Town bully got her down? Fester with resentment. Envious of older sister? Plant bones among her things to get her ousted as a witch. Infested with the parasite Thanatos, siphoning the emotions of her and those around her in exchange for freakish abilities? Let it happen. It was all that easy.

Breathing, though...breathing came hard now. Belle Osburn stumbled a few more steps and fell into a bench, half sitting and half sprawling. Thanatos had wisely retracted the arms -his 'fingers'- into her back now, hidden beneath her blue hoodie. The bench sat on the edge of a walkway along the edge of New Meridian's resident bay. There were not many people around, but those who saw her recognized the look of someone being hunted, and hurried on their way. Who was doing the hunting mattered not. As she panted, Belle stared at the water, glinting with the day's sun in places, obscured by the long shadows of the city's highrises in others. She wondered how it would feel to allow the water to swallow her up. “A nice swim...” she rasped, thinking of how cool it would feel.

Thoughts like those are unbecoming of a young lady.

Belle buried her face in her hands. She loathed her parasite, and didn't mince her words about him, but he didn't seem to care. Thanatos was a proud and quiet being; he only spoke when he was in danger or to make sure that Belle was doing his will, and even then nobody but his host could hear him. Since he thrived on human emotions, he required her to seek people out near death and be present at their departure, for no event but death could hold more feeling. The hatred, the sorrow, the loss, the insanity, and even the feelings that came afterward were savory to him. Naturally, Belle had seen a lot, but even still, she was hesitant to meet her own end at the hands of some gruesome ghoul. Water would be a much kinder fate.

If you were to drown yourself, I would put you into a coma to sustain yourself. Your dreams would keep me alive until I could escape, but until then it would be very unpleasant for both of us.

A surge of anger and hatred caused Belle to scream into her hands. “Wouldn't being hacked to bits by an axe and thrown in the sewers be more unpleasant!? Tell me how to beat him!”

Now, the illustrious 'Hand of Death' was silent. No doubt he wanted her to figure out her own earthly problems and build character. The injustice of it all made the water seem all the more appetizing.

A few moments later, he appeared. Grumm lurched onto the scene from between two buildings. He was every inch a horror meant to creep in the shadows, but he didn't seem to have any hesitation when it came to stepping out into the open. His own breath was thick and wet, dripping bile from a brazen mouthplate to sizzle on the marble tiles. Leaning upon his axe at intervals, he approached.

From the bay there came a noise like a wave crashing. Over the edge of the walkway came something very new and unexpected, and she did a flip as she landed on the ground. Her skin was very tan, her wet hair a dark blonde, and her garb decidedly piratical. Interestingly, she also had a mouthpiece, though this one seemed more like something a soldier would wear, rather than a science experiment. She also wore elaborate knee-high boots that appeared to be made of wood.

With no further delay, the woman threw a sidekick Grumm's way, and a blast of water erupted from her boot and smashed into him, sending him tumbling away with a snarl. She quickly turned to Belle, who wore a nonplussed expression. “Sorry for ya, hon,” she declared in a flighty cockney accent. “This poor monster's gonna be after ya fer a while. I'll 'old 'im fer the nonce, you get lost. 'E's got it in fer folks wit parasites.” Though he was having some trouble, Grumm had pulled himself to his feet and was advancing on the ladies once again. “If I die before I can fix 'im one way or another, remember that Caitlin Halte did you right. Now, off you go.”

A clockwork tentacle latched onto Halte's boot and pulled her off her feet. She did not seem unduly bothered by it. “Run!” She advised as she was dragged toward Grumm.

Slow and exhausted, Belle ran.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

<Snipped quote by Lugubrious>

Could you define "super-subjective-ism" for me. I tried looking it up but all the definitions I found didn't seem to fit with any aspect of storytelling. Also just in general as a story what did you think of it?

<Snipped quote by Lugubrious>

Yeah, Abel's thing was that he was essentially the Fred and George Weasly of Beacon. In the first draft there was a prank he pulled in Combat Class and just in general enough interaction to make that clear. Also if @KabenSaal is interested Mokuren was for lack of a better way to put it like Priscilla except much more of a girly girl. She was also one of Shiro's three girlfriends (the others being Sangue and Diamond). Oh and @paigesweetheart Priscilla was a by the book hardass sergeant and Goodwitch's right hand. Amy got dishonorably discharged and promptly imprisoned when it was discovered she was a Vacuo spy.

@Prince of Seraphs

Ah neat.

I suspected you might say something about that. The term I just used to define my own personal inclinations as a judge; others might not agree with them, but they're welcome to make the contests. As a story, your entry was great. If you like, you can add back in the stuff my constraints made you delete, post it on this thread, and I'll read it and enjoy it then too.

That's another thing, actually. Since the OOC isn't moving a mile a minute any more, I feel like we can open up on another subject area that I wanted to eventually include: the posting of things we've written to get critiques from other people. Praise and constructive criticism might be rewarded by various readers, anywhere from a couple of words to a couple of paragraphs, and we'd be able to grow as writers. This stuff would most certainly not be necessarily RWBY-based. Is anyone else in favor of such an idea?

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

<Snipped quote by Lugubrious>

Opah! I've posted a profile into the characters tab. Do tell me if anything needs to be described in more detail, or if something needs to be tweaked to better fit in with your landscape. I'm not against changing something that needs changing.

@Tenoren

Looks good to me! I believe you are the first person to justify the link between semblance and personality in words, so there are some extra kudos. Have one of your new team members PM you the link to your Team Document (probably Narc) and you're free to get posting! We're going to say that your character is a transfer student, but you may of course decide where from. You are now eligible to complete in our contests. Welcome to the club!