Wraithblade6

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@Gentlemanvaultboy@supertinyking@thewizardguy

Damien responded to Firebrand with avid interest. "Yes, I did feel something like that. There is a willful entity at work here. It was trying to make me forget why we came, forget everything in fact. We seem to have repelled its influence, for now, but I expect more of the same as long as we are in its domain. We must push on quickly."

About then, Ozo started screaming. Damien instinctively took a step behind Firebrand and raised his hands in preparation of a defensive spell. It looked like Ozo was about to lose it, and if needed, Damien would defend himself. Somehow, Ozo was able to ask for what he needed to resist the mysterious control that threatened to overtake him, and Firebrand quickly obliged.

"Magic or matter?" Damien then asked as he stepped out again, hand crackling with electricity. "Then here, eat this." He pointed at Ozo and sent a lightning bolt forth that would have killed lesser creatures. It was the quickest spell he had at the ready, one refined for speed in case of emergency. Summoning a spirit or a corporeal undead would certainly have taken ore time, so Damien had fed Ozo straight magic.

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@thewizardguy@Tyki@Absolis (Keith may or may not also be here)

At the appearance of a storm, Mithias had ordered his company to press onward, assured of the sturdiness of the ship to endure, but little did they realize what they were getting into. Quickly, maintaining a course became a battle. The hull creaked ominously as it strained between the force of the engines and the force exerted on it by Alucard. They all knew that nothing natural was afoot here over the ocean. This was indeed the place the enemy was hiding.

Mithias put a hand on a console to steady himself. "How much longer could we theoretically endure this?" He asked his men, trying to make an educated decision. The shields were holding, the ship had plenty of power, but stability and visuals were an issue.

"Commander, we're being drawn downward, into the center."

"Resist. We only want to fly over it." The vampire hadn't expected this phenomena.

"Increasing output to 80% of maximum... 85."

The ship lurched as the force pulling them was inconsistent. The crosswinds, the electrical interference, and the irregularity were causing damage. There was too little they could gain by being here. Alucard, or whoever else he was working with, had surrounded themselves with quite the defense.

"That's enough. It's too dangerous here. Let's get out." Mithias gave the order to leave, but soon fonud it was impossible.

"95% maximum output. We're not getting anywhere. It doesn't want us to leave."

Mithias twitched. Much to his dismay, it seemed he was going to get everyone killed, and he was mentally scrambling to avoid that scenario. His men struggled, expertly maneuvering the ship, but their direction always changed. Swarms of flying Tyrannid appeared outside all around them, just behind the clouds, or were they the clouds? The sensors were flashing red.

Finally, Mithais had a crazy idea. "Alright. Forget leaving. Alucard has given us seven days, so he's not going to destroy us now. Conserve our power and fly into it. In a storm this big, chances are the center is more survivable. I see it as our only option." He really hoped he was right.

But the marines of the black dragon chapter obeyed his order, trusting in the wisdom of their leaders who for some reason had them following orders from this human-like vampire fellow. They were fully dedicated.

The ship turned and the power output cut down. The sound of flexing metal subsided significantly, and they soon broke out of the clouds into a clearing, the eye, where the pillars of fire shot up and began their intertwining dance around a grotesque platform, a mockery of what it had once stood for.

And there he was at the center of the platform, the fiend known as Alucard, with his glowing red eyes and sharklike grin. Mithias would never forget it. And with that vision and his heightened senses, Mithias felt once again the call, nay the command, to kneel. It was stronger than before, and the ironic part was that it felt right, it felt just. It was as if every cell in his body was telling him that this was the peace he sought. He would give anything for this being, this vampire, his king. For a moment, he reflected. Why? Why not give in? Join Alucard, be a slave to him, die when he tells you to... And he would have, except for one question that was still left unanswered. For all his power and ferocity, there was a glint of regret in Alucard's eyes.

Mithias shook his head to find nearly all the black dragons were staring at him. "It's alright. I'm fine. I still have my own will." And indeed he did. There was no control over him. Any decision he made would be his own, his choice. If Alucard won, it would be because Mithias had willingly conceded. He stared at the image on the screen and felt Alucard watching him, right before he delivered his speech.

Another entity was in range, conversing with Alucard.

Mithias ignored Alucard and spoke only to his men. "Dave, have everyone start collecting data. I want to know everything we have the capacity to detect and learn from this place and that being on the platform. Also, scan that other entity. If it's Alucard's master, then I want to know everything about it. Scan the depths of the whirlpool, magical connections, psychic energy, and start transmitting every gigabyte to Vulkan. If we don't get out of here, then this mission will not be in vain."

Crewmen quickly went to work at their stations. Mithias stood glaring at Alucard and Xelrath and clapsed his hands behind his back. They still had an arsenal of weapons, boarding capability, and a teleporter. "Let's see what this other being does before we make any more moves."

Blood Compact No More-CLOSED-3 months

I will have some time to post tomorrow evening.

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@thewizardguy

"Yes, I'm working WITH the Imperium. It is absolutely necessary, do you understand? And this here is Dave, and he's under MY command. I know it's hard to believe..." Mithias tried to explain to Keith what was going on since the destruction of the peace meeting platform, whether Keith decided to come along or not, was up to him.

The vampire and the Blackdragon space marine went back to the ship and Mithias gave the order to go. It wasn't long before the small fleet arrived at the middle of the Atlantic ocean, at the site of the original Tyrannid attack.

"Commander, we have heavy Tyrannid activity in the area."

Mithias looked at the scanners. "He's down there, Dave. I just know it. I just need a way to bring him out. Do we have anything that can penetrate ocean? Anykind of under-water rockets? What about communications?" Hopefully, Dave would have some kind of advice.

HCL V: insert witty title here

@CreedTheChimera@kishin asura@supertinyking

Ilyndriel climbed out of her hiding place since the hot giant left. The roof was sealed again, and she realized they weren't all about to die. "Oh... My, I suppose it's alright then. Ahem." She listened, hearing voices outside. "He wants a potion? That seems very strange. Is he supposed to drink it? Maybe we should get out of here. Actually, what did we come here for in the first place? And... Where's the baby?"

Blood Compact No More-CLOSED-3 months

@Wick@BlackPanther

Sometime later, again.

The hum of a motorcycle seemed out of place so late in the evening as Mithias cruised down the highway nearing the end of a long journey. The tiny amount of blood they had shared a hundred years ago had called to him, and he knew, she was looking for him. It seemed out of the blue, what with over a century passing since they had gone their separate ways, but what was time to an oldblood? He was curious. Allies were scarce at this point in his life, and whatever lead she had was worth investigating.

Mithias wore a helmet with the image of a fanged skull and flames on it and his characteristic black sash which covered his lower face. Its tails blew behind him, mixing with his long hair. How had it all began? He recalled everything he could about the violet-haired vampire in preparation for their meeting. He had stalked her, as he had with so many other vampires and supernaturals that dared to live too close to his human descendants, expecting only to be forced to eliminate her as a threat to them, yet he found that she was more than prepared for him and much more alike himself than he could have imagined.

Like himself, Violet's appearance drew human attention, and that had consequences. She however, had not let any anger over human rejection consume her. In fact, she seemed to respond completely contrary to what would be expected, she loved humans. She fed exclusively on animals and insisted on finding a way to coexist with them, to live amongst humans in their very homes! How Mithias had envied that. He quickly became so fascinated that he couldn't justify killing her, even if he could have overpowered her. Fortunately, she had decided not to kill him either. They became something like friends, although no loyalty was ever promised. Mithias had sincerely tried to feed on animals, as she did, but discovered he could not and was reluctant to admit it. Perhaps that shame had been part of why he had left her. Soon afterward, a branch of his living bloodline traveled across the sea to the new world, and Mithias chose to follow them.

And now we are here, ages later, wars later, generations later, on the eve of a dying peace. Vampires had become known, and the war had gone into hiding. Mithias took an exit and began winding his way toward the house where the gathering had been summoned. Magnus had been stopped, but peace had never been achieved. He stopped his bike and rumbled at the end of the driveway, allowing his senses to detect movement, psychic energy, and heartbeats inside Violet's place. Humans, and his own Soldier organization were now the biggest threat to vampire existence. He had no idea how to re-establish peace, that dream was already crumbling before his eyes. Right now, in order to be able to do anything, he had to make sure to live to see tomorrow.

Blood Compact No More-CLOSED-3 months

I'll get as post up tomorrow.

HCL V: insert witty title here

@supertinyking

Eclipse held his shield up briefly as the heat blazing off of the fire pillar stirred up a wind around him, blowing his long white hair. He didn't need to defend himself, not really, but he had to maintain the disguise of mortality, something which Ares appeared to see through. He lowered his arms as Ares shrank size and came up to him. Ares was still hot, but at least his presence wasn't lethal.

"Thank you my friend. I understand how it must be difficult to know what it is like for another being to bear your aura, but I am glad to see you make way for those so different from yourself. You are noble and kind." Eclipse was indeed contented by Ares' choices. He smiled. "So a sorceress has a potion for you? Perhaps I may be of service in retrieving it for you?" The young knight errant eagerly offered to go inside the lab and fetch the potion. "At least, I am pretty certain that I won't burn the house down."

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@thewizardguy@supertinyking@Gentlemanvaultboy

Damien wasn't mentally or physically prepared for Ozo's method of transport, and he gasped and freaked as Ozo lashed him with his tongue and yanked the necromancer gracelessly into his gullet. Terrified, the human struggled but was too weak to wriggle out of Ozo's insides. Fortunately, it wasn't long he had to endure this state of hell before he was dumped out, fairly dry, on a beach.

Damien fell forward, then flipped onto his back and kicked and scrambled at the sand beneath him to back away. He glared at ozo accusingly, heart racing, before the fish-man took off again. Damien's nose wrinkled and he gnashed his teeth in a promise of retribution that he'd think better of before Ozo would get back.

With Ozo quickly gone again, Damien had no idea what-the-hell kind of magic he used, Damien stood up and collected himself. Then, as his eyes turned on the stunning scene of desolation and alien wilderness, it hit him. What was at first a natural wonder and analytical curiosity began to be invaded by a quiet distraction. Subtly, Damien began to lose his concentration, his awareness, and his focus. An alarm went off in his mind as he felt disturbingly different. He was alone... Asmodeus had wanted him here, but... his lord wasn't watching anymore... where was he again? Why had he come here? Damien's mind began to fog, and he was moments away from wandering off, until he realized, "Hey. Wait a minute. This isn't normal."

"No!" He called out to his unseen enemy furiously. Damien refused to be dominated, nothing was more infuriating, and few individuals carried as much hate and rage than this one little man. He fought to remember as it pressed to overtake his mind.

As he strained to focus, he recalled a time when he had delt with this kind of trick before. Dark sorcerers used to protect their knowledge and their works by placing protection spells on their tomes. Any fool unfortunate enough to try to read it would be captured in a deadlock of circular reading, where the same sentence just repeated again and again without the victim realizing it until they utterly read themselvees to death. The spell was ancient and lethal and had been banned for many ages. It took a magic user with a strong will to escape the trap, by forcing himself to read past the circle until the trapped lines were finished. And thus Damien forced himself to keep thinking, to hold on to some memory, anything, until the influence passed. Still fighting, he reached down into his shirt and pulled out Sariel's ring and squeezed it in his hand as tightly as he could. The pain of the etched leaves in its decorations cut into his flesh, a thin thread of his connection with reality to help keep him aware of himself.

Sariel... Damien grit his teeth as a tear unconsciously beaded at the corner of his eye. He'd see the world that took her from him burn.

Fortified, Damien began to regain his mental strength. He had won. Shakily, he released the bloody ring and took a few steps toward the jungle at the edge of the beach. The isolation was still there, but he was better able to analyze it now. What kind of magic was at work here? He looked out over the plants and fungal growths and searched with his soul sight for any sign of a spirited being. He could see any twinkle up to a mile or so into the jungle if there were any.

The lack of order of this placed was an affront to the god of law and incensed Damien. How dare it pretend to isolate itself and act on its own. he would see it subjugated one way or another.

HCL V: insert witty title here

@CreedTheChimera@ShadowVentus@supertinyking

Ilyndriel screamed in fear as the roof of the building was torn upward and a giant burning face stuck it's nose over the edge. She ran behind Kevin seeking cover and trembled as the others began talking to the monster.

Meanwhile, Eclipse is stricken with a sense that someone is in danger. His eyes widened a bit and he hesitated in his step. Affirming his direction, and with no one around to witness him, the deity in disguise suddenly blinked forward a great distance. Appearing close behind the firey being that was sticking its head inside teh lab building.

"Hark! Great being of fire! Turn and face me!" Eclipse, appearing as a man with minimal armor and a sword and shield, called out at the smouldering creature. On his shield was a sun-like image, a ring with rays of light extending from it, but the ring was hollow inside. "My name is Eclipse! and I will not stand idly by while innocents are terrorized!"