The Gradual Massacre (GBS2G4) [Round 6: Tidal Cove]

Originally posted on MSPA by MrGuy.

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Holly cursed, grabbing at her ears. She had never in her life heard anything like that, and didn't particularly wish to hear it again. She shook her head and looked down the hallway. Stupid werewolf, running off on me. She sighed and began walking down the hall, eventually coming to a recess with a ladder in it. Looking around, Holly decided she might as well start climbing.

Upon reaching the top of the ladder, she collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath. It had taken her about ten minutes to get all the way to the top. She looked around. Apparently, she'd made it to a bell tower on the roof of the school. The rain was starting to pool around her feet, though not quite entering the raised opening from which the ladder emanated. Holly sighed. No matter where she went, she was trapped. She briefly toyed with the idea of "thinking happy thoughts" to create a sphere of sunshine, but promptly discarded it. Even if it did work-- which was unlikely-- it would be utterly demeaning. She sighed and grabbed her gauntlet from her sack, scratching patterns in the floor to bide her time. Somebody had to find her eventually, right?

Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.

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For some reason, the more he felt humiliated, the calmer Algernon got. He lay on the floor for a while, thinking how it was a shame the bulb broke, although not really because it was a horrible weapon anyways and he was lucky he didn't get cut. Then he sat up and thought some more about how to approach this battle.

No teams. Definitely. With the nature of this game, he couldn't afford to get very close to people. It would leave him vulnerable to both betrayal and grief. He had already thought this before, but he suppose it was important enough to emphasize it to himself. But what else?

Back when he was just simply wandering and searching, he would fight only for self-defense or for others. Maybe that should apply here too? Except if he helped others here, that would just prolong the game. It would be a meaningless act of altruism. But he couldn't just sit still if someone was dying in front of him...So even if he were to tell himself not to, he would probably still, say, try to save someone from an insane deaf woman. Even if it was stupid. Algernon sighed. A conscious was not a particularly useful thing to have in this 'Gradual Massacre.'

Speaking of his conscious, no killing. He would probably never forgive himself if he killed someone here. He would never be able to look at Kali again. Algernon automatically gripped the locket around his neck before finally standing up. He only took a few steps before suddenly hesitating. He probably wouldn't feel guilty for killing the bugs. They were just bugs. It'd be silly to feel guilty for them...now he was overthinking this. He knew how he was basically going to act now, so it was time to go out again and find that lighter.

And then Algernon keeled over, trying to dig his hands further into his ears. The unbearable sound seemed to go on forever, driving nails into his skull and then after running out of room, driving nails into the nails. In fact, the worm was biting harder on his head in agony, so much that he started to bleed, but he didn't notice.

At one point, it stopped, though his ears continued ringing for a while. Algernon picked himself up from the floor a second time and leaned against the table, breathing heavily and wondering what the hell just happened. And could he prevent it?

Being in a ceramics classroom, Algernon's thoughts immediately went to clay, but he dismissed the thought mostly because he was sure stuffing clay in his ears would damage them instead of protecting them. Still, he grabbed a handful of clay, even though he had already told himself not to randomly grab more stuff. While washing clay off his hands, Algernon thought of stuffing wet paper towels in his ears, but then realized that if plugging his ears with his hands didn't work, paper towels wouldn't either. With a little disappointment, Algernon realized that the only thing he could do was hope that it wouldn't happen again. He carefully looked down the hall before going out the room. Noting a loud buzzing sound coming from around the corner, he went the other way, keeping an eye out for a 'peace room' (why would a school need that?) or a lighter, still bleeding from the head slightly.

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SpoilerKali apparently means 'rosebud.' I dunno, I thought it was funny.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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Thane was acutely aware that despite his desire to find medical supplies he had no idea where to even begin looking for them. He was also acutely aware that he could not spend too much time wandering around methodically checking behind every door he came to or else risk being around when people responded to his message. This was not the ideal situation. The wound, while annoying and debilitating is hardly deathly, and so he quickly decides to prioritise staying hidden. Leaving the science classroom, down the corridor to the right he can sense two minds in a classroom, to the left (down the stairs) he can sense minds approaching, but along the corridor straight ahead there is nothing. He heads down it, past the peace room that will in a short time be the focus of his competitor's attention and into the corridor ahead. The first door he opens opens out into an auditorium, where a whole bunch of plastic chairs are arranged to face a stage, framed in hanging red velvet curtains. It is clear that he will not find anything of use in here, he is ready to re-emerge into the corridor when a screech overwhelms him. He falls to his knees, his hands pressed against his shallow earholes. His body paralysed by the awful noise that is like a jackhammer to his skull. After a minute it stops or at least it quietens, but Thane remains frozen in place, hands clamped over his ears, eyes shut tightly. He focuses on the screech, that dreadful headsplitting noise. Forcing every single second of it into his memories. After a minute he stands up, the memory stored away, seared into his brain, the sensation ready to be duplicated in the minds of his enemies. A quick glance back into the hall reveals Ouroborous heading straight for the peace room. Thane had been unsure whether his psionic abilities would be able to affect something like Ouroborous.. It's mind signature is distinctive. Not the one mind like the others, but thousands of tiny minds all of which should be incapable of coherant thought, but together it somehow manages to think, or at least appear to think. Since it was here he gathers it had probably recieved his message. He wonders whether his other psionic abilities would also prove effective.

Thane was quickly snapped from this reverie by a slight increase in the volume of Ouroborous' constant screeching. This was a good thing, he needed those medical supplies and standing here thinking about future plots and plans was not helping. Ouroborous had gone, into the peace room, and so Thane took the opportunity to cross the corridor and try the other door. It led to a pitch black room, which might have contained anything. He quickly slid off a gauntlet and touched the floor, feeling beneath him a thick carpet. A sure sign that this was not the room he was looking for. He checks the corridor again, it remains clear, before stepping back out. He quickly makes his way further along the corridor, which curves around the pitch black room and back upon itself. He procedes along the corridor with a sense of anxiety. If this was not the room for which he was looking then he had backed himself into a corner with this ambush stunt. He opens the door and is greeted by a sterile white room with an examination table and shelves full of medical equipment. He feels a sense of satisfaction and relief, that was only underscored by the fact that he had discovered the room through sheer luck. Heedless of how he had got here, it was time to dig out that bullet and fix himself up.

Originally posted on MSPA by Godbot.

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SpoilerWorth noting that as someone who is currently bleeding, Ouro will probably be most inclined to hunt down Thane first.

Also you kind of ignored that whole screeching thing.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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SpoilerI figured that Ouroborous would probably be coming for him. As for the screech thing I have edited to say more about it. I don't know if that's what you had in mind or whether you wanted Ouro to be constantly screeching at paralytic levels, or what. The first version did kind of gloss over it a bit, but that was because I felt I was already running a bit long and could stand to lose some of what would be repeated for each character.

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SpoilerAnd I fixed the tenses too. Tenses are not my friend. [img]images/smilies/headbonk.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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SpoilerIx, you do just realized you jumped from past tense to present tense and then to past tense again, right?

Originally posted on MSPA by whoosh!.

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SpoilerSo sorry for this post. I'll probably edit it later. No time now.

When in doubt, gain height.

Acacia pressed her one gloveless hand against the cold glass of one of the classrooms, and readjusted her huddled perch on the windowsill. The rain was so distracting. She'd had plans, ideas, a thousand shards of a thousand little lies. But it's rhythmic swirls upon the window drew her in, defused her and sent her reeling. She didn't know why. But Good Acacia did. Those tiny, feeble whispers gnawed at the corners of her immovable shield and wormed their way through. And by God, they knew.

When in doubt, gain height.

She smashed her forehead against the glass, but the little thoughts were too small to be swayed. However the hell that worked. Acacia growled and unbent herself from the window, snapping her attention from the black hole of the rain with the iron will of the harshest taskmaster. Little, poor, naïve, pathetic Acacia wanted to go up, did she?

Well then. That's where they would go. But Aic would note the debt and return it with a grin so fucking big the adorable, twee Acacia would shatter like ice.

I'll make you pay.

Aic twitched round, but no one else was in the classroom.

Of course there is. I'm right here.

A hand on her shoulder. Cold. Freezing. And hard as the pummeling rain she couldn't hear behind her.

You may call yourself Aic now, but you're still Bad Acacia. And I'm still here. Good Acaia. Like the rain. The rain we never left behind.

Aic didn't move. Neither did the hand.

Well? Haven't we got height to be gaining?

Aic took the few steps forward, but the rain still held onto her, never wavering. She didn't want to look. Just… just to keep moving. She still couldn't remember the rain. Not this rain, but the one Acacia knew about. The one buried under piles of rubbish and inanity, trapped in the denial and fear that still rippled through her, even if she couldn't remember why it did.

“Why?” She whimpered, suddenly realizing the fetal position she'd assumed on the floor. The rain still grasped her, and the cold was spreading through her shoulder…

But no reply came from the one she'd suppressed for her freedom. She'd said all she needed to, apparently. Aic closed her eyes, gritted her teeth with all the fury of a thousand wailing harpies and crawled towards the door,

Eventually she got bored of the ‘major effort' act and opened her eyes.

First thing – ladder. That's height. Good enough for the bitch in my head, right? Second thing – rain's gone. So is the cold. Aic leaned back against a wall and shook her left arm until it was feeling less dead. Which was an improvement, to say the least. Or just a relief. She still wanted to do so much with her life. Like kick that bitch's ass and hand it to her on a silver platter. That's gonna be such a sweet, sweet victory. She sighed, and brought out her second glove that she'd stowed just before shaking puck's hand, oh, ten minutes ago? God knows what any of those guys were doing now.

Aic sighed yet again and rose to her feet. Staring at the ladder was certainly entertaining, but Acacia would probably get antsy again if she didn't start climbing the damn thing. Right foot on first rung, left on the second and whoa would you look at that. I'm climbing the ladder. See that, Acacia? I'm doing just what you said. Now don't get the rain on me again.

She paused her ascent several metres up when she realized just where this thing was going.

Ack. There was someone up there, too. Scritching and scratching. Like a rat.

A little too bored to care anymore, Aic pounded up the last few rungs and stuck her head up into the bell tower. And quietly swore. Very quietly.

She slumped over the floor.

“Heya, elf.”

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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SpoilerI was expecting somebody to post and end up running into Wrath, but from the looks of it nobody wants to. I'll make a story post soon, but I'll give you guys some times if you want to give me a little head-start and mention him. I have absolutely nothing to work with, to be honest.

Originally posted on MSPA by MrGuy.

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Holly stared at the new arrival. "Oh, hello, Miss Acacia. I assume you're here to fight me?" She adjusted her gauntlet slightly and brought out her whip, deliberately assuming a terrible stance. "I don't want to fight you, if I don't have to..." Inwardly, she laughed. If this worked, Acacia would be dead. If it didn't, in all likelihood she still would be. She faced her, assuming as frightened an impression as possible. "Pluck ran away from me, and so did Algernon... will you stay near me?"

Originally posted on MSPA by whoosh!.

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Aic pulled herself up onto the old, worn wood on the bell tower. She flinched as the rain struck, but regained her composure. Acacia could freak out about it if she wanted. After pulling herself upright she took a moment longer to observe and ponder the elf and her words.

This was her chance. The elf had seemed like a beautifully chosen candidate for her fun earlier, and the starkness of the bell tower only enforced her belief. No one around to bother them. And it was obvious she had all the fighting repertoire of a kid. Her mouth twitched into that smile that seemed to have become the sole characteristic of Aic.

“No, I'm not here to fight. I'm here because Acacia told me to come. She's a weak little thing, frightened of the world and terrified of the damn rain, for Christ's sake. You probably saw her earlier. Meek and non-protesting.” The mild mechanical screech that seemed to have underlain all of her previous speech had softened remarkably. Aic wandered closer to the edge of the bell-tower, clutching the iron grid put in place to prevent children running off the edge. She stared, perhaps a little morosely, into the sheets of rain.

“But I'm Aic. The smart one. And you,” she snapped her fingers and pointed accordingly, “you, are just interesting enough for me to stick around.” Bursting into her hell-hewn laughter, she flicked out the hand pistol again.

Yet Holly was just as quick off the draw. The whip became quickly discarded in favour of one of the new books. She barely had time to check the title before Aic was charging, the gun held in preparation for the harshest pistol-whip since Jesse James. Holly scrabbled to pull out a page, any page-

The elf bitch was going down. The tower'd be sprayed with her weak elf blood –

A burst of fire and a flash of smoke –

- And Aic was falling through Hell. Her pistol was gone, and the rain that streaked her soul was replaced with the fall of a thousand burning meteors. She stumbled before Holly and blinked, enraptured by the sudden vision which had appeared before her. Barely missing a beat in her momentum, she lunged forward, enfolded the manipulator elf back in her arms, and kissed her with all the passion she had in her.

From Holly's fingers, the school's legendary and little-seen copy of The Joys of Sex fell to the floor.

Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.

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The Countess marched up a corridor, mentally checking off her list of stooges she was assembling amongst the contestants. Algernon was no hero, but in some ways his streak of cowardice could, under a different light, merit admiration in the form of conscientious cowardice. Either way, the boy wasn't a totally lost cause, and if he'd lose all trust in his fellow man or elf or werewolf of his own volition... well, that just made the amalgam's work easier. Still... securing one cowardly human wasn't going to shift this fight under the Countess' control. The gears ground against themselves, detesting and deep in the Countess' throat, as she decided neither Holly or Acacia could be considered secure in the scheming web. They were too tricky, and the elf especially had the capacity to outperform the clockwork beast at its own duty. And that really wouldn't do.

All that remains is to maximise the contestants' torment at her death. I could turn them all against her... tempting. The Countess found herself upon the first floor as she berated herself for not noting it sooner. Her personal loathing of the elf was getting in the way of her job - offering the Controller the best show of mortal agony she could put on. Personal grievances, however justified, were simply getting in the way. The skitter-click taking an irregular pace as she stopped by each door, determining the presence of occupants, moving on, scheming ticking.

Having at least one to regret her passing, but all who have met her have as fine an opinion of her as I do. Groan-click-tick, as her jaws opened a little wider. That leaves... the demonic wreck, and the Old One. Is either even capable of having a shred of empathy for that wench? Perhaps, though, Thane-

a chittering, scrabbling, crescendoing to a painful disabling screech, flooded the hallway. The Countess had no ears, but the sound decimated her delicate listening instruments which were scattered across her form, and were of a frequency that seemed to lock her gears in place, cogs and keys jittering in destructive resistance against each other, graunching, paralysing the Countess as the wave of Ouroborites spilled round the corner, the slurry mass lurching toward her. Digging her twitching, sharp-tipped feet into the scuffed linoleum, the amalgam stared down Ouroboros, jaw still hanging open in a wicked grimace as the writhing mass of insects roiled onward, heedless of the Countess in their path.

With no hot blood to smell and spill, or angry limbs lashing out and crushing carapace, Ouroboros was understandably confused as the first beetles clambered over the hunched metal construct, antennae and stray limbs snipped off by the recovering machinery. The Countess didn't move as the insects crawled over her, still-stiff joints grating in protest as she felt that abrasive, shrieking stripe carve against her hull. Eventually, dissatisfied with the poor pickings, Ouroboros lurched onward, a few stray individuals still scrabbling. Whatever caustic substances comprised the slick gunk that seemed to have lodged itself securely in her mechanisms left the amalgam with an abominable ache throughout her entire body; she could only assume her own phagic putty was in some kind of molecular brawl with the acid.

The Countess clambered to her feet, and clumsily brushing the last of the Ouroborites off, she seized one by its writhing, fish-hook tail and raised it to the fading skitter of its compatriots, dropping it into her mouth. A snap, a few crunches to punctuate the dull grinding which stopped after a moment, and the Countess clanked off in search of some water to wash off the prickling slime. Her shuffle to the nearest bathroom was slowed by the debilitating mix of blood and acid and stench which would've been mind-warping had the Countess possessed olfactory receptors. Still plucking the individual insects from the ground and mesh of gears and devouring them (if only for the satisfaction of hearing their little shell crunch), the Countess slipped into the nearest bathroom (male, oddly enough) and smashed a sink with a freshly dislodged hand-towel dispenser until the amalgam stood, in the flooding bathroom, savouring the fountain of water spurting from the mangled pipe.

Basking in the stream pouring from a broken (forcibly detached) tap, the Countess reflected on the monster that was Ouroboros. Mindless, remorseless, and destructive. Perfect for terrifying the sophonts. Whatever viscous purple slime was too embedded to rinse was slowly getting digested, like the munched and pulverised bits of Ouroborite.

Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.

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Looking out the window, Algernon could easily see he was on the second floor even with all the rain obscuring and distorting his view. He quickly went about finding some stairs.

As his footsteps echoed down the stairway, mingling with the harsh patter of the storm outside, Algernon couldn't help but think back to his childhood. He remembered that sometimes he would have to stay after school for whatever reason. Mostly likely clubs, though he couldn't think of what sort of clubs he had joined. Walking down empty hallways usually packed with fellow students had given him a feeling of fear and paranoia. He was never sure why. There hadn't been anything to fear. It wasn't like something would have snuck up behind him and slit his throat.

And now he was walking empty hallways again, in a situation where throat-slitting would be entirely plausible. That would be called irony, right? And he was feeling calmer than ever (more irony?). In fact, he thought as he came out on the first floor, he actually felt a little dizzy. Algernon stumbled to the wall and leaned heavily on it, lightly clutching the worm on his head. When it started wriggling in response, he started rubbing his forehead instead. He couldn't help but notice that his hand came away rather bloody.

He stared at his hand for a while. Wounded? ...Already?

Algernon blinked, finally feeling his blood running down his head. How did that happen? And...how would he patch it up with the worm's teeth in the way? In any case, he would have to look out for the nurse's office now. He couldn't afford to run into anybody like this. Hopefully he could just slap a bandage around his forehead and call it a day. Bandages heal everything.

Now feeling groggy and lightheaded at the same time, Algernon stumbled around the hallway, happy to find that he was, in fact, nearby the nurse's office. How lucky.

He quickly rescinded that thought once he opened the door and saw a humanoid eldrich abomination shuffling through the cabinets and generally making a mess.

Originally posted on MSPA by MrGuy.

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Holly grinned. She couldn't have expected a much better outcome than this, although she did briefly wonder if this library simply took every book they could get their hands on or what. She shrugged and stopped necking. "Well, thank you very much, Acacia. I do believe that we could get quite a bit done together, don't you?" Acacia, still in a daze, nodded slowly. Holly let out a little laugh and bent slightly, pressing her hand against the elaborate sigil on the floor. It immediately began glowing brightly, and then the floor started rapidly disappearing. Holly used herself as a conduit to transform the floor into a large stone pillar, which she dropped off the side, and jumped down with her new "friend" back into the school. Holly was gripped with pain as she hit the now water-covered floor. They shared a celebratory kiss before looking around to figure out precisely where they were.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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Thane sat at the examination table, a thick plastic slab draped with blue tissue paper for the sake of hygiene, and removed his armor. His sickly pale skin underneath is slick with blood. He takes a pair of forceps from a nearby surgical tray, which his rational mind tells him should not be located in a nurses office in a high school, but then again he has already encountered stranger things in this place. Misplaced surgical equipment is hardly shocking. He calms himself, and inserts the forceps into the bullethole. Pain shoots through his body, much worse than the dull ache he has been feeling since the gunshot. Thane prods tentatively around inside the bullet wound until he locates the small chunk of metal that has caused him such a problem. Spasms of pain shoot through his body as he attempts to tug the bullet free. He yanks it free and collapses from the table, leaving a bloody streak down to the floor. Here he lies for a minute waiting for the pain to subside. Lying there, bloody and in pain Thane questioned his logic in detaching part of his consciousness and attaching it to this vessel. To have a human body is so limiting. His body is so weak, unable to even cope with the pain of extracting a bullet, which was nothing to the soul crushing perpetual agony of being exiled outside of the universe. Human bodies are pathetic, and the moment he won this contest he would return to his self, detach from this body and end it's suffering.

Till then he needed to keep it safe and operational. He stands up, the pain having reached managable levels, and walks over to the sink. He cleans his wound with hot water; this too was painful, but Thane endures it anyway, having lost enough time indulging his body's limitations. Once the wound is clean he walks over to a set of medical cabinets and starts rifling through them, searching for a bandage, when suddenly he senses a mind by the door. Thane again curses his feeble human body and it's limited capacity for pain, distracting him from possible threats. He glances towards the open door to see Algernon standing there looking shocked, blood dripping down his head. Just the person he wanted to see Thane thought happily. His arrival was a timely serendipity. Especially as he noted that the mind of Ourborous was on the move again, heading this way.
'Hello Algernon.' he thinks amiably, as he resumes searching through the cabinets. 'You're just the person I was looking for.' Thane produces a roll of bandages from the cabinets, tears off a strip for his shoulder and throws the remaining roll to Algernon. 'Get yourself fixed up and we'll get out here, I want to find somewhere where we can have a little conversation.' he paused. 'Also, I wouldn't take your time, because Ouroborous is on it's way and until we've had our little conversation I don't think either of us stands much a chance in surviving an encounter with it.'

Originally posted on MSPA by whoosh!.

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SpoilerQuality in these things is becoming more and more intermittent. Wrath is the scaly guy mentioned in this post, anyway.

Aic was drowning.

She wanted to cower, or cry, or maybe just hurt something. Anything that would draw out the relentless flood of emotion that burned up her mind like a tongue of flame biting down on bone-dry paper.

She felt hopelessly besieged, but with Holly in her arms it seemed every second was soaked in Olympia's ambrosia. Or poison. Either way, this was a pretty foreign emotion to her. Probably even to Acacia, even though she was the nice, friendly one. Normal, even. Or… innocent? The hairs on the back of Aic's neck rose. No. She was the real one. Acacia was just the voice in her head.

She extracted herself from Holly, just as her beleaguered senses began to regain their functions. The next thing she knew she was staggering on the stairs – and a demonic, lightly scaled and grinning man stood before her, perhaps a little bemused by the situation accumulating around him. And, above them, the pillar that had cleared their way down balanced precariously on a beam of the roof. The rain battered down on the three of them with the fury of a divine retribution from the heavens.

It didn't take long for the first nauseating crack to sound for those still possessing hearing. Chips of plaster joined the more natural precipitation of the moment, soliciting the raised gazes of the non-disabled present. It only took a moment after Aic looked up too for Acacia to slide into focus, shunting the shattered resolve of her alter-ego to the side with unusual brutality.

Acacia grabbed Holly and barreled down the stairs, yelling something incomprehensible that the rain would obscure to even those who could hear it. On the way down Acacia grabbed the surprised demon's arm too, straining every muscle just to keep her momentum with the new baggage.

The suspense gnawed at her, even with the knowledge that they were probably beyond the point of impact. But she wasn't going to let some screwy fate or chance decide that one. No way. Instead, she gathered her last rags of control and screamed at her slightly confused passengers.

“JUMP, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

They seemed to get it.

Just as her bare feet left the ground she could feel the incredible vibrations as the pillar slammed into the floor not far from where they had just stood in a daze. Within seconds the three of them were tumbling through a mist of dust and plaster, hearts beating a million beats a second.

And sure, the ground hurt. But a massive pillar on top of them would have been less comfy.

Acacia rolled over on the ground and briefly noted the behemoth of a puddle growing steadily with each second the rain poured down. Then she slipped out.

Aic sat up. She surveyed the scene before her very carefully, and promptly delivered her verdict.

“Shit.”

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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SpoilerI'd make a post, but I seriously have no fucking idea what is even going on here. Something about a pillar and the floor disappearing and water everywhere? Nothing has enough detail to even describe what's going on. It's like reading an instruction manual in Russian with a picture or two strewn about.

Originally posted on MSPA by MrGuy.

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Holly shook her head rapidly, trying to clear her thoughts. She was engaging in romance, then something crumbled-- she really should have expected it, creating a hole in the roof, but she'd been a bit distracted. And now she, Acacia (who she decided to make a de facto ally), and that weird demon guy were in a giant puddle forming in a classroom. The elf briefly wondered what sort of classroom this was before deciding to move on to more important endeavors.

She stumbled over to the demon-- shit, still not feeling so good-- and brought a thin paperback out of her pack. She shuddered as it touched her hands-- an air of pure evil surrounded the book. A smirk came to her face, however, as she transformed it into a black ball of pure nothing, surrounded by small glimmers of light. Silently, she tossed it at the demon, who at this point had transformed into, oddly enough, a girl who was small and utterly lacking in presence. Said girl had only enough time to let out a small "eep" before the sphere enveloped her entire body. Holly stared as the girl, bizarrely enough, smiled. She couldn't dwell on this, though. She had to take advantage of the situation.

Holly rushed over, grabbed at her whip and promptly began tying it tightly around Lust, who soon snapped out of her trance from the pain of the thorns. The elf stared at her, wearing a maniacal grin. "Looks like Mr. Controller is about to get what he wants." She brought the girl over to Aic, who turned, somewhat surprised. The elf fluttered her eyelashes, causing an interesting reaction from Aic: an odd combination of embarrassment, anger and the slightest taste of joy was visible on her face. Holly took this in stride; she'd seen it a million times before. She whispered to Aic: "If the Controller wants to see someone tortured, let's give the man some torture." She proceeded to mumble a plan, which Aic grinned and nodded to. The deaf girl brought out her Boomer, walked up to Lust, and activated it directly in the poor girl's ear. An expression of utter pain washed across her face, and she tried assuming a different form, but the whip was too elastic, and the thorns dug in too deep-- one, twice, thrice a new entity screeched in pain. Eventually, Aic stepped aside and nodded to Holly, who grinned and came back to what was now Greed.

"Well, Maxl, we all knew something like this was going to happen eventually." Holly stroked his leg with her gauntlet, creating a long red gash. "I do hope the Controller is enjoying the show Aic and I are putting on for him, even if you aren't." The gauntlet moved up his leg, and Holly slightly shifted the lowest loop of whip in order to make room for it. She emitted a small chuckle at first, which quickly built up to outright guffawing at the demon's pain. "I don't know if you can have children in this state, sir, but it's about to be moot."

The gauntlet finished its journey and the elf drove it deep within Greed, deep within the soft flesh between his legs. He hollered in pain as blood trickled down his leg, out of his pants and onto the floor. Holly walked back over to Aic, still giggling slightly, and planted a brief kiss on her cheek, thinking to herself: That book was a wonderful find. I wonder what "Twilight" is about, anyway?

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SpoilerThat's right, folks, this post has it all! Romance! Torture! Cheap shots at Twilight! And it can be all yours for the low price of $0.00!

Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.

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Algernon fumbled with the roll of bandages for a bit before it finally just stayed in his hands. He still didn't do much until Thane mentioned the monstrous cloud of bugs. Looking a little nervous, he ripped off a long strip and attempted in vain to slip it under the worm's teeth before resorting to punching it lightly. In response, the worm wriggled its tail angrily and hissed, loosening its grip a little, enough for Algernon to slip the bandage underneath and tie it tight. He still didn't feel quite anchored yet, but at least he wouldn't do something incredibly stupid and faint or something.

'Done? Good.' Algernon barely had enough time to pocket the roll of bandages before Thane pushed him out the room and started dragging him down the hallway, turning sharply whenever he felt that any one mind was getting too close for comfort.

Eventually, the two entered a classroom that he felt was well-isolated. The many minds of the Ouroborous had moved past the first turn they took and everybody else were either not moving or moving in the opposite direction. Thane turned back to Algernon, who seemed to be trying to rub off the disconcertingly clammy feeling his grip had left on his wrist.

"Okay, so you wanted to talk?" Algernon's eyes didn't focus directly on Thane, instead preferring to scan quickly around for any plausible escape route if needed.

'Yes. You see--'

"Hey wait," the dark-haired man interrupted. "You were the guy that send out that distress call, weren't you?" A mental sigh formed in his mind.

'Yes. That was me. How intuitive of you. But back to business.' Algernon grimaced. Whenever somebody wanted to talk business, it always meant that somebody wanted to use him. 'I'm sure you're well aware of the situation we are in. A fight amongst eight beings. Individually, one would have a low chance of survival.'

"Oh no." Thane went on as if he hadn't heard.

'I would prefer a higher chance of survival, as I'm sure you would too. So I'm proposing an alliance.'

"Wait a minute--"

'Combined, I'm sure we can be powerful enough to destroy the rest. We both have great power--'

"Look, I'm not gonna team up with you or anybody else."

Thane's expression didn't change--Algernon wasn't sure whether it could change--but there seemed to be a threatening tone in his reply of 'Oh really?'

"Thane, or Yog-Soggoth or whoever you are, frankly, I don't exactly trust you. I've been through this sort of thing before and I'm pretty sure I know how this 'alliance' will turn out. Um, er, sorry," he added nervously, trying to subtly sidle over to the door.

'Others will make their alliances as well. What will you do when confronted?'

"Well..."

'Run? And how will you keep running? Eventually someone will catch up to you and kill you. This is why you need me.'

"Uh..."

They were suddenly interrupted by a small crash from above and a shudder from the ceiling. "Oh look, looks like someone's coming around, looks like we should leave--"

Algernon froze at the sound of a soulsword being unsheathed.

'There is nobody nearby. We are not done conversing.' He slowly turned around. Thane was still in the center of the room. Not close enough to slice his throat. But the demon seemed confident that he could easily slay him if he tried to run.

Thinking quickly, Algernon whipped out his gun and pointed it at the demon's torso. "You don't bring a sword to a gunfight," he said darkly, trying to look as confident as he could with an unloaded gun standing between him and a sharp sword.

Thane appeared to surrender, lowering his sword, and Algernon almost sighed with relief. Until he dropped his gun and fell to the floor, wishing that his hands could dig further into his ears as he had just a few minutes ago. The worm, feeling at least some of his pain through their link, twitched. Thane stood where he was, looking slightly smug.

'You don't bring a gun to a psychic battle.'

Originally posted on MSPA by MrGuy.

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And god, that post makes me wince.

Then I did my job well.

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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did i mention i hate you

Anyways... I guess this is a reserve? On time constraint I'm probably not posting it for awhile, I'm just saying, look out for a post. It's probably not going to mention anything serious.

Originally posted on MSPA by MrGuy.

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did i mention i hate you

I would say "you should have posted", but the fact is I was planning to do that immediately afterwards regardless.

SADIST BRIGADE FTW [img]images/smilies/squiddle.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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You'll be surprised what I do with your Sadist Brigade

Also you totally need badges for that crew.

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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Slowly, the form of greed slowly shifted before turning into that of Wrath, which was to the pleasure of Aic and Holly. With a smile on her face, she tightened the whip further, the thorns digging into Wrath's side. At this, she laughed, and punched him in the stomach with her gauntlets, a sickening squick confirming the fact that she'd driven it deep into his body. At this, Wrath neither winced or screamed, but instead dropped his head down. He reared it back up with a bloodied grin and cackled loudly through the dense air. As he slowly tugged away at the whip holding him down, he shook his head. "Foolish, foolish mortals... do you, of all people, think that the very projection of sin itself has a soul? If you have the idea that I can feel - or be affected by pain, then I made a mistake in assuming you were some of the most observant of this group."

He cackled again, furiously, as he drove his right fist forward one final time, snapping the whip from it's constraint and causing it to swing back around and slide across the tile floor to the other side of the room. "If you think... that you can torture me... the only person you're really pleasuring is me!" He lunged forward at the group, who narrowly dodged it. Regaining his balance, he leaned on his arm, practically standing on all fours as he motioned to jump again, before something caused him to hesitate. "Wrath, this isn't the right way to solve problems. If you think that by attacking everyone who ever does anything is..." she choked for a second. "If you think that is helpful in any way, then you're an idiot." Wrath, who was angled forward as if he were ready to attack, instead kneeled to the ground and punched it with his fist. "No," he yelled, before his features began to warp. Slowly but surely the image of Lust began to come back into focus, and she slowly rose from the ground and stared the elf dead in the eye. Even in a girl so shy and quiet, it was incredibly apparent she was enraged.

She pointed her finger at Aic. "You..." she scowled and grabbed her by the shirt. "You little bitch." She shoved her down to the ground, at which Holly protested, driving a knee into Lust's stomach, skipping the magic bit altogether. At this she recoiled, stumbling a bit, before backing out of the room and into the hallways once again.

The others made no comment, too stunned to see Lust of all people to do that. She walked slowly down the hallway and towards the clinic's room, making sure to make every step as loud a stomp as possible. She was half-deaf, bloody and in pain, and she would be damned if she didn't deserve to throw a tantrum about it.

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SpoilerShe was half-deaf, bloody and in pain, and she would be damned if she didn't deserve to throw a tantrum about it.

Suddenly, the earth below her started shaking and falling apart, leaving way to a massive fiery pit which then consumed her. There was lots of shaking and thrashing about before Lust suddenly found herself restrained to a wooden chair. Before her the image of a large desk slowly began to form, with a gigantic demon sitting behind it. He held a mallet in his hand, and just after Lust managed to understand his presence he slammed it down onto the table.

"GUILTY!" He shouted, motioning to a lesser demon sitting below with a typewriter. "Guilty of failure to compensate with etiquette rules! The punishment shall be eternal damnation and exile!"

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Spoiler"Great job, dumbass," Wrath mentioned, before another fiery portal opened below the group and drug them into the underworld.

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Spoiler

Originally posted on MSPA by whoosh!.

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Acacia trembled quietly in the background of the scene. She was terrified. Quite naturally, of course. When you face up to your demons after almost a decade of ignoring them it can be tough. But she'd done some thinking while Aic raged as background noise.

If she was going to survive this, she wanted to do it without Aic. She wanted to be that strong without being that terrible. So it would start now, with opposing this elf. But damn, she was scared.

Acacia carefully picked herself off of the ground where the shapeshifter demon had slammed her down. The elf glided over from where she'd nutted the odd being, all sweet smiles and seduction. Acacia kept her face blank, but she tensed as the creature approached. She twitched as she came closer, violently overcome with a feeling placed somewhere between repulsion, fear and deep simmering hate.

That surprised her. Holly blinked and froze, a flash of confusion passing over her face like the shadow of a cloud. But with the realisation that sped to her brain like a bullet, Holly's face broke into a brilliant smile. And she laughed, a delicate little chuckle that was far beyond the restrictions of Acacia's own artificial voicebox.

"Acacia. I'm afraid I don't like you nearly as much like this. Let's get you into a better mood."

She reached for a book, eyes glittering, but in an instant Acacia grabbed Holly's skull and headbutted her. The boomer exploded into a cacophony of screeches and screams that would shame a harpy, the noise swelling in its intensity until Holly passed out from the pain and shock.

Acacia let the unconscious body drop from her hands. Pretending she could hear the thud. It wouldn't take her long to recover from that. Ten minutes, perhaps. It might take her a little longer to completely recover her hearing, but the lasting damage came to a grand total of nil. Acacia swore and sat down on the floor, staring at the elf. If she couldn't even properly deafen this piece of slime, how the hell was she meant to survive this mess?

Aic gnawed at the corners of her consciousness, in the time that filled the sudden quiet. The reminder that the get-out clause was still present and working, and any time it got too hard…

Acacia buried her face in her hands. It could be so easy, if she wanted it. A lifetime asleep and untouchable by the world, until Aic got herself killed. And then she wouldn't have anything at all to worry about. But she couldn't just let people die solely because she was a bit scared.

She looked up, where the elf was still lying. Alive. She could do this. She didn't have to commit moral suicide to survive.

So what are you going to do? Sit in a corner and cry about it?

Wordlessly, Acacia spat on the ground, scrambled up and then strode out of the classroom. In the hallway, a light flickered. The storm-induced gloom, miserably battled by the cheap light-bulbs of school seemed to suggest strange beings lurking in the few shadows. A tale was playing out here, though, and that induced a little romanticism in Acacia. Unwittingly, Acacia smiled in a way that Aic would have approved of.

She began stalking barefoot down the halls, without purpose. She'd been thrown into a situation with no options open to her. Not even alliance, because someone would still die on her watch. A guard on a watch. That was an idea. If she could oppose all this…

Hell, if she could take on the Controller –

Acacia's thoughts scattered away as a strange dark mass loomed ahead in the hallway. It approached steadily.

“What…?”

She paused and leaned forward, straining her eyes in the dark. That failing, she activated the sonic-sight.

And screamed.

The Ourobites were coming.

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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SpoilerI love how the vessel for an undying god-being exiled to the edges of the universe with tentacles coming out of his face is a normal, completely un-scary guy while a big pile of worms is like horror movie killer level terrifying