MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Ohaidere

Definitely didn't spend like an hour already working on my character sheet for this, no sir.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

The Maw- The Depths

Lvl 7 (70/70) -> Lvl 8 (71/70)

Word Count: 271 words

As the others moved to enact their plans, Geralt half-jogged, half-ran back to the catwalks section, stopping at the bottom of the ladder and getting a good, if somewhat distant, view of the pool of water that the mutated Moreau was now wallowing about in. Nadia and the Ace Cadet were doing a hell of a job distracting the guy away from the folks who had gone underwater, but Geralt had another idea in mind.

While the two Seekers above were moving back towards where he was coming from, Geralt watched Link pull what a borderline suicidal move in actively trying to get the giant fish monster to attack him. He figured the little hero knew his own limits well enough to be able to get away in time, but a helping hand couldn't hurt, right?

No, no, don't answer that question.

Letting out a slow breath, Geralt repositioned the nail in his hand and took a throwing stance, as if he were planning to throw a javelin. It felt almost natural for the nail, which was a bit odd, but there was a lot going on here that was odd, so the Witcher child went with it.

Careful to take a spot where the others wouldn't run into his line of fire, Geralt waited for the mutated fish-man-monster to show itself, launching the nail at its back when he did so.

He didn't take much time to see if it worked, instead turning tail and running to safety before getting gobbled himself. Hopefully he'd bought a little more time for the folks below.

It would have to be enough.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

The Maw- The Depths

Lvl 7 (69/70) -> Lvl 8 (70/70)

Word Count: 420 words

To say Geralt was happy that Sakura seemed to at least be...less upset, would be an understatement. He wasn't ecstatic, or thrilled, but he was still rather pleased. It was a small mercy in this messed up scenario they'd found themselves in. And he'd learned early on to take those and hold onto them with all he had, because that was all he was gonna get.

Everything Sakura said only confirmed for Geralt that she really was a kind soul. Not necessarily pure, not quite wholly innocent, not if the strength she brought to bear was any indication, but kind. Kinder than most, perhaps kinder than was wise at some points, but kind nonetheless. And that kindness had done them some good. It was what inspired Geralt to friend heart that giant bird instead of killing it, and while that only lasted a short while, it allowed him to intervene against the Harbor Demon and hopefully save lives.

Sakura's description of the copies as real, living people made Geralt pause. He hadn't wanted to think about it, but he figured he probably sounded the same when he told villagers off for trying to kill a Troll that was killing their livestock or hurting their people. Just because they didn't understand, or didn't want to understand, didn't make the point any less true, or meaningful.

But something she said made Geralt chuckle. 'Trapped in a body he doesn't want, eh?' Funny she should say that to one of the few people here in such a situation. Between himself and Frog, he knew who had it worse, but Lambert certainly wouldn't want him talking down just what they'd gone through to become what they were. Shaking his head, he spoke up, answering her question. "It's in the little things. The sunrise over the Skellige Islands. The way the coins rattle after a game of Gwent. Slipping into a warm bed at the end of a successful hunt." A small smile crossed his features at that, but Sakura was hyping herself back up, and Geralt nodded. She was tougher than she gave herself credit for, that he could easily tell.

Standing up with her, Geralt didn't pay her conversation with the copy of Mirage (the second Mirage?) much mind, instead focusing on the giant mutated monster that had appeared and was trying to eat their allies. Because of course they had to be right, and that guy either transformed horribly, or brought back a friend.

What a wonderful day they were having!

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

The Maw- The Depths

Lvl 7 (68/70) -> Lvl 7 (69/70)

Word Count: 699 words

To say Geralt was concerned and confused about the most recent turn of events was an understatement. Even Nadia's explanation of what the conveyor was didn't really help much. It was like a moving carpet used to transport objects, like some kind of extremely limited cart stuck on a single road, forever, in one direction.

That was about as close as he was gonna get to understanding it without really stopping to think on it, which was a luxury he didn't have at the moment.

Sakura's impending breakdown was, to him, probably the most important thing to deal with now. She wasn't going along with the others, and that meant the two of them could afford to sit and talk for a minute. Trusting the others to handle the....diving...suit....thing, he walked over to where Sakura had sat down and started having an existential crisis.

"Hey." He simply said, holding an arm out to offer a hug. "I...already mentioned I'm not good at this. But you look like you could use a friend. Not a pep talk, or a rousing speech, just...somebody who understands. I'm here for ya, k-Sakura. I'm not going anywhere. It's okay." Geralt thought back on some of the more...memorable people whose lives he'd ended.

Holy shit, that was a depressing line of thought to go down.

Shaking his head to physically clear away those musings, he sighed. "It's...not easy. Ever. Even now. I still think back to the first. A bandit on the side of the road, threatening a man and his daughter with his gang of pals. Her reaction was a lot like yours after I cut him down." He left out the...less pleasant implications of why he was threatening them, hoping Sakura wouldn't pick up on the omission. "All over me. And then passed out. Less than heroic start to my career, if I may say so." He shook his head again, this time with a hint of amusement.

"I'm telling you this because I want you to understand that you're not weak. There is a strength in compassion where others are callous. There's power in empathy and love that hate and anger can't match. It's what made me fight a war for Ciri. Not anger at the Wild Hunt for taking her. My love for her. My desire to see her free and happy to live the life she wants to. That's what drives me. They say a man with nothing to lose is scary, but a man with everything to lose can be just as terrifying."

Nodding, Geralt sighed once more. "You're not weak because you care Sakura. The rest of us are just...jaded, and maybe broken, and definitely tired. You don't have to be like that." He was exaggerating, of course, but the point was the same. They'd all been fighting for their lives for so long that things stopped phasing them like this. He was sure they'd all seen or come close to death enough times that it just felt normal for them, unlike the Street Fighter girl. She'd likely never forget this experience down here in the Maw, and Geralt was well aware of that.

"So remember Carl, and remember that when everybody else wanted to kill off that big guy in the water, you went out there and stopped them. Us. Despite what happened with that giant shark, you still put yourself out there and helped, because you have a strength that some of us have given up on. Sure, I'll let monsters go here and there, but I've never backed down from killing them if it felt necessary. And maybe it wasn't always. Maybe if I were calmer, maybe if I were less prone to drawing silver, there'd be a few more people, a few more monsters around."

Maybe if I were more like you, was left unsaid, but he hoped it came across.

This girl didn't deserve this shit, and for everything he said about love being stronger than hate, he was going to plunge his sword so far down Galeem's throat the fucker would be spewing bits and pieces of silver for what little bits of life he had left.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

The Maw- The Depths

Lvl 7 (67/70) -> Lvl 7 (68/70)

Word Count: 548 words

Noticing that nobody had grabbed the nail to use as a weapon, Geralt took that liberty for himself. It could at least come in use like the scissors did earlier.

Sakura's reaction to what happened to 'Carl' was...not unexpected, unfortunately. Geralt was already in the other room, a little late to see part of her breakdown, but he caught the back end, and had to hold back his frown. She was...devastated wouldn't be too off to describe how she seemed right now. He was reminded of Ciri after Vesemir's death. Unfortunately, he didn't exactly have any snowballs to pelt the girl with, and this wasn't the morning after a battle. Perhaps after this whole business with the Maw and this area's Guardian was taken care of, he'd think of something to help her keep her mind on the present and what she still had.

Outwardly, though, he didn't say anything, and only gave her a sympathetic look. This was what he'd meant when he talked to her the night before. Sometimes...despite all the best intentions and the effort you took to make things better, it only got worse. It was always worse the first time. His thoughts drifted back to the first 'monster' he'd slain. Geralt didn't think he'd be telling Sakura that story. It was dark and painful even for Continent folks. Skelligers were a bit more stoic about gruesome things, less prone to despair at the state of things, but even they scowled when they thought of that kind of monster.

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Geralt's mind turned back to Mirage and the ominous chair that had not killed him, but in fact gave him control of Carl's body. Corpse? Shell? It...wasn't clear. Morbid as it was, Geralt nodded when he saw the machine moving its arms. "Well, that could help." A pause as he listened to Mirage's update. "It...can't move outside of the water? And what do you mean by conveyer...?" A puzzled look came over his face as he tried to figure out the meaning of the word and its context. "Convey...er...transporter? I don't know if there's anything large enough here to transport that..." It was clear that he wouldn't be much help with that. It was actually beginning to become a big frustrating for Geralt, this constant lack of knowledge of what was going on around him. He wasn't used to feeling ignorant like this.

"Whatever we do, I think it's best I stay behind. I'm not exactly familiar with...any of this. I'm not too proud that I can't admit that." It stung a bit, certainly, but with limited space in that sea vehicle, he wasn't going to reduce the group's effectiveness to try and prove himself useful. This was absolutely not the time for that.

"I'll stay behind and try to find a spot to hide. If that man comes back while you're down, I might be able to sneak up on him. If he's truly working for the captain of this ship, I see no reason not to deal with him." It was blunt, it was dirty, and it might even be unnecessary, but he'd already proven unwilling to allow them passage. If he had the chance, Geralt would remove Moreau as a player on the board.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

The Maw- The Depths

Lvl 7 (65/70) -> Lvl 7 (67/70)

Word Count: 1,112 words

Geralt came to a stop at the top of the ladder for a moment, catching his breath. This whole 'child body, extreme hunger, lots of physical exertion' thing was getting pretty tiring, literally speaking. As the others filed past, Geralt forced himself upright and squeezed past the half-open door, only to be faced with a hallway, two doors, and...a thing. It was certainly a thing. A...rectangular box-shaped head with what appeared to be one mechanical eye, a strange arm-like device ending in two opposed 'fingers', and...lots of fluid underneath it. Was that what passed for blood for this type of creature? Or did it serve some other purpose?

What was stranger, however, was the obviously organic structure to which the mechanical creature was connected. As little as he knew about this type of machine, he knew that that was not normal. No, that was most certainly not normal, and Geralt found himself a bit off-out by the whole thing.

And then he started paying attention to what it was saying, and Geralt's hair was standing on end. It kept insisting it was human, calling itself Carl and even insulting Nadia for having the gall to ask the clearly nonliving thing if it was supposed to be a person. He scowled at that, but didn't comment, not wanting to get involved with something he simply didn't understand. Turning away and looking around, he went towards the open door and tried to see what he could figure out.

Turns out, not much. Hardly surprising, but being surrounded by this much technology he had no clue how to work was bothersome. Still, he tried to put how some of these things were laid out to memory, hoping that one day he might be able to understand it all.

When he heard the banging of the Koopa Troop trying to force down the door, he sighed and turned back to them, only to notice 'Carl' was now fully intact and...not speaking. Furrowing his brow, Geralt quickly walked out, noticing that the machine wasn't moving at all. He'd vaguely heard Sakura speaking, which lead him to surmise that she'd given the thing a Friend Heart, and it had...returned it to normal? Was normal not talking and insisting it was a human?

Geralt shook his head, way out of his depth on this. "What...no. No, I...really don't think I want to know." Geralt decided. As much time as he spent philosophizing, he wasn't in the mood to try and jam this entire new category of potentially-living creatures into his understanding of sentience and life. Still, the part of him that felt for those monsters who could be reasoned with was quite displeased that whatever Carl was, it was gone now. He'd spared enough monsters to know that just because one was difficult to talk to, didn't make it really an enemy or something that needed killing.

Sparing a weary sigh for the potentially-living creature that Sakura may have just accidentally killed, he walked back towards the Workshop door, only for it to slam shut just feet away from him. "Of course." He bluntly stated. At least he wasn't in the middle of the door as it closed. He quite liked having his limbs attached. That avenue blocked off to him, he quickly shuffled back and helped reconnect some of the cables that Peach was working on, not exactly understanding what the significance of the individual cables was, but understanding that this would help things around here work...probably.

When the lights started coming on and the door to the Command Center opened, Geralt figured that either they'd done something right, or Mirage and the others had. Either way, their path was now clear, and Geralt moved onwards with the rest of the crew.

The Command Center was a large, square-shaped room with some kind of metallic sphere hanging from the ceiling protected from the little intruders by a metal fence. There were also some kind of full-body clothing along the wall, and an extremely disconcerting chair in the middle of them.

As the group snuck around, Geralt got a good look at the mutated human waiting in the alcove, seemingly talking to himself about a "Missus Lady." He had to assume that meant the woman who had sicced those strange monsters on them before they passed out. Well, if he was working for her, he had a rough day ahead of him. Geralt felt for the man, as another mutated human (though much less...grotesquely) himself, but now wasn't the time for sympathy. Peach and Nadia accosted the man, who begged them not to leave lest he fail his 'Lady' before vomitting and stumbling into the pool and vanishing from sight.

"There's no way it's that easy." Was all Geralt could say. Call him a downer or a cynic, but this guy wouldn't be put in charge of a whole area of this place if he couldn't back it up. If anything, the nature of his mutations made it all the more likely that he'd do better in the water than they would. "He had webbed fingers and toes. Whatever we do, we had best be careful around that water." He wasn't sure how it felt that he was on the exact same wavelength as Bowser, but the guy seemed to have some sort of experience with almost everything under the sun (and other things under the ocean), so he just rolled with it.

His piece said, Geralt immediately noticed Mirage strapping himself into the terrifying chair of doom, and sighed. "Really, Mirage? Just going right for it, huh?" Shaking his head, he just motioned for the man to continue.

When Junior mentioned using his scissors, Geralt grimaced. While the pair he'd gotten were of much higher quality than he'd expect from something on the Continent, he'd seen a few pairs of scissors before, and recognized the tools as a decent improvised stabbing instrument. Sadly, they were gone, and the Witcher mentioned as much to the troop. "Stuck em in that thing's eye to keep it off our backs while we turned tail and ran." He reported with no shame. Sometimes running was smart. "Cadet stabbed it with some kind of pole, too. Not sure if it died or not. Just glad it didn't follow." He wasn't sure it could, but the sentiment was still there.

Unfortunately, he had no ideas for bringing the submarine down for them to use, but he did point to Mirage. "If that thing doesn't kill him, it might serve as a sort of control device?"

That was the hope at least. A not dead Mirage and a submarine ready for their use.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

The Maw- The Depths

Lvl 7 (64/70) -> Lvl 7 (65/70)

Word Count: 350 words

Geralt joined the others in pushing away the debris blocking the doorway. It took a bit of effort, but with all of them working it wasn't exceedingly difficult. As the Seekers entered the room on the other side, Geralt sighed in frustration. "Of course. Filled with water." As the others said, this water was probably filled with horrible creatures just begging to tear into their tiny little bodies with whatever fangs they had. At least everybody was in agreement that even thinking about going in there was suicide.

Peach, luckily, was able to spot a map of the place, and come up with a rudimentary plan on how to proceed. Find a submersible vehicle, drain the water, and carry on. Getting to that vehicle was going to be the hardest part, it seemed. Much like they'd done earlier, the plan was to use Mirage's dart gun to build a ladder of sorts to get higher up in the room, then cross via suspended platforms. Geralt wasn't exactly thrilled with this plan, but he didn't see much of an alternative, same as Frog.

And so, the Seekers once more climbed their way to safety from the dangers below. This time, their path was a bit more treacherous, but that could easily be overcome through careful planning and step placement. As Geralt was making his way up, though, he paused for a moment as his stomach rumbled and a sharp pang of hunger overcame his senses for a moment. It took longer than the Witcher would have liked to force the feeling down, and he groaned. "This hunger thing is fucking miserable." He swore, getting onto his platform and shaking his head to try and physically dispel the feeling.

As he started making his way across the network of catwalks, Geralt was at least glad that they could support their weight. Even Bowser and Junior were managing to hang in there, though nobody was brave-or foolish-enough to hang around the same platform that they were on at any given time.

No need to fall into the presumably monster-laden water, after all.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

The Maw

Lvl 7 (52/70) +10 Encounter XP -> Lvl 7 (64/70)

Word Count: 788 words

Geralt cursed as he noticed Mirage's descent to the ground, figuring that he'd also be joining the fellow turned toddler in the layer of discarded junk that covered the floor of this room like a layer of water in a flooded cavern. It was somewhat odd that this entire section seemed to consist only of brown boots, but all things considered it was hardly worth thinking on. What mattered was that he and Mirage got to safety, and quickly before whatever it was that called this sea of debris its home attacked. He didn't shrug off Mirage's helping hand as he might otherwise normally have, since they were both hardly in their best shape right now, and he could use whatever help he got.

The two trudged for dear life through the footwear, barely making progress due to their pursuer's erratic movements rippling through their surroundings like it truly was water they were wading through. Geralt cursed yet again under his breath, annoyed at himself for going along with that insane plan, but also annoyed that he hadn't come up with anything better. Systematic approaches to dangerous situations was supposed to be his forte, and he'd failed to come up with anything better than 'jump around and try not to die'. Sure, it had worked until that last pile of junk, but 'until' didn't quite cut it when the penalty for not having a proper working plan meant death.

Thankfully, help came in the form of Nadia calling out for and reaching to grab Mirage's streamer, which he gladly threw to the feline girl. Mirage held an arm back for Geralt to take hold of, while those who had already made it helped pull the two up. Once they were safe, Geralt sighed and shook his head. "Thanks. That...went much worse than we'd hoped." If that wasn't an understatement, then that word clearly didn't mean anything.

Geralt hadn't quite missed Bongo Bongo being shredded up a bit by a giant flying fan blade, but he'd been a bit too preoccupied to comment on it, and he certainly wasn't going to do so now that they were almost home free and it was right behind them about to kill them all.

Quickly making it to safety thanks to Nadia's fan boost, Geralt turned to make sure the others made it up as they had done for him, putting him in perfect position to grab hold of Nadia's arms as she used her fan in what was a rather creative way. Helping to haul her over the edge, Geralt ushered the two onwards with the others, waiting at the opening of the vent with his pilfered scissors in hand.

He turned to the other person who had stayed behind, the Cadet, a true hunter like himself, and nodded. Adjusting his grip on his 'weapon' to hold it like a shortsword, Cadet holding his pole like a javelin, the two watched as Bongo Bongo floated up, his baleful red eye shining brightly on them.

And the hunter became the hunted as both weapons thrust forward, stabbing into the eye with ease. Bongo Bongo recoiled, scissors left inside its eye, and fell to the ground below them, bouncing off the couch and dissipating into shadows once more. Geralt wasn't going to wait around any longer to make sure it was permanent this time, however. "Let's go." He said simply, turning and hurrying after the others.

________________________________________________________________________

After who-knows how long spent navigating through dark, cramped vents, Geralt found himself in a poorly-lit room with the other Seekers, and he breathed a sigh of relief, even as a wave of lethargy washed over him. Hunger and thirst came with it, and he had trouble suppressing the painful feelings like he normally would have. Whether that was something his body had simply learned to do or was the mutations, Geralt actually wasn't quite sure. Witchers were hardly alone in being able to last a few days without food if it was absolutely necessary. "I vaguely remember that as well, Kamek." Geralt agreed on the point about the food being cursed or tainted in some way. "Hell of a trap, honestly."

Ignoring the light rumbling of his belly, Geralt took note of the sound of water coming from the other side of the doorway that the light was slipping past. What exactly that meant, he wasn't quite sure, but it didn't sound good. Still, as Mirage and Kamek agreed, they were all alive, and that was a win. "We survived once. We just...have to do it again. And then again. And probably a fourth time. Maybe a fifth."

He still wasn't great at pep talks. At least that much hadn't changed about him.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

The Maw

Lvl 7 (51/70) -> Lvl 7 (52/70)

Word Count: 424 words

Waving to the two on the mountain as he ascended, Geralt mentally thanked Mirage for offering his assistance in the form of platforms to ease his climb. The sooner they all got through this mess, the sooner they could go about solving it. Not that he had much of an idea of how they'd do that yet. His vast repertoire of knowledge was only useful if he had time to think about what the hell they were dealing with.

Still, now that he was able to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, Geralt's spirits had been boosted just a bit, even if he was dealing with pun-slinging miscreants for allies. Mirage and Nadia's brilliant plan was to launch her towards their goal in what appeared to be some kind of wheel made of a material he vaguely recognized but didn't really fully understand yet.

Their plan underway, Mirage turned to Geralt to confirm that he had his own plan for what the two of them would do, but he was interrupted by their tormentor deciding that it had had enough reacting. That boded poorly for their continued survival, but at least Mirage had the decency to grab hold of him and make sure he didn't go flying.

Grunting, Geralt stood and quickly checked to make sure the thing hadn't caught on to their presence, satisfied that they were safe for now. "That was too damned close." Getting his bearings now that he wasn't worried about their imminent demise, Geralt nodded and reached for the box, only pausing when Blazermate arrived to help. "Welcome back." The child Witcher sarcastically commented without much venom.

He wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to risk being thrown, a method of transport even less controllable than jumping, but Mirage was already making the choice and firing on Bongo Bongo to distract it. Whether that was a good idea or a suicidal one remained to be seen, but Geralt wasn't one for letting opportunity pass him by. Besides, he still had those scissors if things really got hairy.

Nodding to Blazermate, he held tight to his scissors and one hand and kept his concealment 'blanket' secure against him with the other as he soared through the air, praying that he didn't die an ignoble death to the sea of junk he was soaring over.

Oh, who was he kidding, at least he probably wouldn't get stabbed by a pitchfork this time if he did end up dying. That would have to be enough.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

The Maw

Lvl 7 (50/70) -> Lvl 7 (51/70)

Word Count: 511 words

Oh, this was terrible. Geralt felt more than saw that hanging (or was it floating?) monster's gaze pass over his extremely makeshift hiding place, passing over him without more than a moment's notice. He let out a slow breath and, after waiting a few moments, extricated himself from the oversized clothing he was using as concealment. On the bright side, he wasn't dead.

On the less bright side, he still had a ways to go to get to that vent, so away he went. He saw the light chase after Blazermate, who was unfortunately a bit too large and too noisy to fully escape notice. After quickly hiding himself once more as it followed after the robot, he got back up and tried to forge a path towards what he hoped would be their salvation. Large piles of junk and assorted furniture being the two main kinds of 'safe zones' from whatever it was that lurked below, and whatever they could get their hands on protected them from the monster above. This would be tricky.

Geralt wasn't terrible at moving silently, but he was certainly no Cat or Viper school Witcher, trained extensively in the arts of stealth and acrobatics. Still, with everything going on, the other noises that others were making and how much area that thing had to surveil, made it relatively simple for Geralt to find his way to another piece of furniture, oversized shirt folded and thrown over his shoulder like an extremely-oversized towel.

He saw Bella a ways away, using her oversized tail and a makeshift boat to brute force her way through the refuse covering the floor of this place. It seemed to be working, albeit painfully slowly.

Careful to avoid making too much noise, Geralt grabbed a pair of scissors that he'd noticed and nodded, content that he at least had a last resort weapon should he be caught. It probably wouldn't work, but the idea of having nothing on hand in the worst case scenario was something he just couldn't tolerate.

Continuing, he made his way from safe zone to safe zone, using random pieces of debris (such as an oversized book in one case to get him enough room to make a running leap to a low table) to help him cross the room. It was slow work, especially when he had to quickly pull the shirt from his shoulder and fall prone beneath it to hide himself, but in due time Geralt found himself near the mountain of trash he'd seen Nadia and Mirage climb not long ago.

Pulling himself up the mountain carefully, he reached the summit just in time to hear the words "We should be wheely quick about this, before we have to hide from another patrol."

Oh no, not these jokers. Hiding a sigh at the living embodiments of the lowest form of comedy, Geralt cleared his throat gently. "I have a solution for that." He said, patting the shirt on his shoulder. "I don't have a solution for getting up there, though..."