Tuesday, December 3, 2069 - 4:00 PM Eastern
The tiles on the floor change subtly beneath their feet as they walk into the black fog. It's the smells that reach them first, acrid and industrial and electric, and the sounds that come next, distant explosions and battle cries. Somewhere, people are battling.
It looks familiar, like Tracy's apartment level, and yet different. Instead of ordinary aircars, fanciful boats and beasts of burden sit upon the skywalk, waiting for their masters. Civilians have vanished from the floor, to be replaced by a few suspicious-looking creatures and powerful human-like beings roaming to and fro, as if searching for something. And behind them stretches the alien cityscape of New Metropolis, with giant airships cruising the sky, flashing the logos of fictional companies.
Still Lady Tracer in appearance, Tracy steps into the halls of the Eastern Tower with Brother Cadena at her side, Fuseli and Yappy trailing her. Jason tromps out of the fog behind her, clad in golden kitsune-shaped armor. RIU clings to his shoulder, peering about worriedly, and Inari lays a hand over his right arm as if he were escorting her to the ball.
Well, in certain lights, it could be seen as a heck of a date.
"We're in the Gloaming," Tracer announces, in case anyone wasn't sure. "Yappy, Cadena.. you're the only ones who can sense portals if we need one."
"Give me an hour and I bet I could build a device to track a portal," Jason claims as he peers about the desolation. "And ... I still don't see the allure of these games. You want industrial and wrecked, come down to the slums. It even includes free muggings and bullets in your butt."
Brother Cadena scans his surroundings warily, particularly since there are already plenty of suspicious-looking creatures about, but he takes a moment to glance askance to Tracer. "But say the word, and I shall seek one. I...." He pauses a moment, regarding the stand in hand, and then his own hand clasping it. "I appear to be stable for now. I am already adapted to this environment." His ears flick. "We haven't much time. Something ... to the west, and above. It's somewhere higher in this tower." He holds his staff out, feeling for something in the air. "Perhaps at the top. I am not sure what 'it' is, but I can't escape this feeling. Something is forming, with a considerable amount of Potential."
Yappy looks confused, holding his assault rifle uncomfortably as if trying to find the best way to manage its weight. "Sense a portal? How? I mean, if it's a creepy crawly feeling through my fur like something bad is going to happen, I've had that for the last... I forget when I wasn't feeling like that, actually."
Fuseli snorts. The black nightmare turns his head to Lady Tracer, as if to ask why did we bring him along?
"Potential energy is perfectly safe. I'm more worried about kinetic energy as that is what imparts damage," Jason nerd-quips.
"Okay, we go up," Tracer says. "Sasha opened a portal in the restaurant up there in the real world, so that could be her base here."
Brother Cadena breaks out his reverie a moment to place his free hand on Yappy's shoulder. "Fear not. Yes, these are dangerous times, but you are among friends. Individually, we may be weak, but with the binding power of the Light, we are strong together."
In the distance, there are shouts. "Spread out! Keep looking, there's got to be a clue around here somewhere!" "Back off! We were here first!" "Lord Demeritorious submits to no one's authority! You may comb the remnants after I have perused this area."
"Those sort of lines only work in the movies ... and barely even then," Jason whispers to Inari. Louder and to the others he says, "So up? Well, far be it for me to dissuade people from using technology ... but I think stairs would be safer than an elevator, all things considered."
RIU licks Jason's left ear. Normally this would tickle, but he doesn't even feel it through the helmet.
Inari grins at Jason. Unlike Yappy, she holds her assault rifle with an air of easy competence.
"I shall defer to your expertise, Mr. Edwards," Brother Cadena offers. "Whichever route we take, we must not stay here. The Wild Hunt is still on."
"This is VR... bold proclamations may affect the favor of the universe and all that," Tracer notes, and peeks around the corner towards the commotions. "That sounded like that guy who wanted to recruit you into the Army of Darkness, Cadena."
Yappy looks comforted by Cadena, despite Jason's skepticism. "All right. I, um..." He looks around. "It figures, the way we want to go is blocked by a fight waiting to happen!"
"Well, we could try stealing flying mounts and take the outside route," Tracer offers. "Or go around the longer way to the lifts, away from Demeritorious."
"This is a donut shaped room, we could take the longer route around," Jason points out.
Brother Cadena checks his robes, and looks mildly surprised when he finds a small black card, which he tucks back away. "If all else fails, m'lady, we could rack up more debts. But first...." He holds out his staff. "May the Light show us, subtly, a way to the pinnacle of this tower, avoiding our enemies if it be possible - preferably by stairs or by air if such an opportunity is available."
Outside, a dark grey airship drifts by, its hull armored, its gondola bristling with cannons. Tracy and Cadena have seen it before - the Black Thorn. It exchanges broadsides with a white sky barque that is trying to approach the top of the tower.
Sparks appear fitfully around the tip of Brother Cadena's staff. Two lines draw ghostily away from it, one toward the center airshaft, the other straight up.
"The factions are being fractious again," Tracer notes. "We got the help of the League of Shadows last time, but they're pretty mercenary. And it looks like they're fighting the Blessed Light.."
Demeritorious yells from inside the Tower, "Arise, my loyal minions! Chastise these fools who refuse to bow to the might of the Army of Darkness!" The vampire and the sorceress look to one another, then begin to summon their own defenses.
"Oops, I forgot that everyone can see the path beams Cadena creates!" Tacer notes, and draws her sword.
Brother Cadena frowns. "'Subtly' was evidently not achieved."
Jason blinks. "I have a hard time not laughing at the melodrama," he admits as he shakes his head. "I think we'd best just hurry and avoid further fighting."
The lines fade to near-imperceptibility the further they go from the staff, until one might miss them if one were not looking actively for them.
"Come on, lets get moving," Jason says as he heads towards the central area, angling to go right and around so that he can get a good view of the centrral shaft.
"RP jerk!" yells the vampire as he whips his cloak open, unleashing a swarm of bats that cluster thickly enough to hide him from sight. "This is a big place, you'd think there's plenty of room for us all to have a piece of the action!"
"There are apartments we can duck into if we need cover," Tracer adds, and follows after Jason while trying to stick close to the wall.
Brother Cadena nods, following Jason's lead.
The sorceress visibly facepalms. "Honey, he's Army of Darkness. That's License to be a Jerk territory."
As they press on into the Eastern Tower, the nearby grey wyvern squawks, but amidst the noise of fighting both here and out in the area at large, this draws little attention. The airshaft itself appears clear. To the north side is an angel who looks familiar to Tracy and Cadena - Irielle of the Blessed Light. She is sitting calmly on a bench, fiddling with some magical apparatus of some kind that looks like an overgrown compass combined with a sextant.
To the east, several doors line the wall, each leading to an apartment of its own, looking very like the ones in Tracy's apartment level. The far ones have already been opened, including the center one leading into what would have been Tracy's apartment if this were the real world. Someone must be searching them.
"Do we have enough ways to fly to just head up the shaft?" Jason asks. "I can carry Inari, I think. What about everyone else?"
"I don't know if Fuseli can carry three," Tracer says, and looks to the Nightmare for confirmation.
Demeritorious unleashes a gout of flame toward the vampire! "Taste hellfire!" he bellows. Bats crisp and die, but it seems as if most of the swarm remains intact.
Fuseli nuzzles his master, but doesn't look sanguine.
"We'd need another mount," Tracer translates. "Who wants to grab that wyvern back there?"
"Or we could just all take the air car," Jason suggests. "Come on, pick something and lets go. Do you have any preferences, Inari?""
"Irielle would be a handy ally," Tracer says, then agrees, "The barque would be most convenient, but also a bigger target. Can you figure out how to fly it, Jason?"
Brother Cadena frowns. "Stealing a vehicle or mount from innocent bystanders seems out of character for agents of the Light." He maneuvers up against the corner, trying for a better look on the central area. "Lady Tracer, perhaps I can approach a potential ally to seek alternate transportation. I could step out first, so as not to betray your position, in case any of these are of the Wild Hunt - with your permission, that is."
Inari considers the situation. "You could take several trips," she suggests. "Two of us can remain behind to hold the fort."
"Hey, it's me. Disasters don't follow me everywhere!" Jason claims. "I'll go check the barge-thing, you get as many allies as you can. Kiss her if you have to."
"Or we could try an orb," Tracer notes, and produces one. It's an Avatar's orb of course.. but probably worth a shot. "Lady Irielle," she whispers to it.
The sorceress responds to this attack on her vampire friend by bringing her fists together and conjuring up a ball of lightning. "Dog of a demon! You'll pay for that!" Then she swings it back and unleashes it, one hand behind her, the other sweeping forward, as if stretching it out into a levinbolt, and unleashing it, dramatically.
The lightning bolt hurtles straight forward Demeritorious, and would strike if not for one of his imps heroically throwing itself into the path! Or being clumsily caught, depending on how one looks at it. The imp emits a tiny little death-squeal.
The orb crackles, colors racing up and down the spectrum, red, green, blue, back down to yellow, and then becomes a clear gold, tiny dots racing around in the center. Across the airshaft, Irielle looks startled in midst-adjusting.
Inari follows Jason. "You realize wyverns tend to be carnivorous?" she mutters to him.
"Well done, Champion!" Brother Cadena whispers to Tracer. "I had not anticipated that such an artifact would work here, given the ... er ... links involved."
"I think it worked," Tracer notes, and hands the orb over to Cadena.
"Good thing I don't look like meat," Jason points out. "Well, hopefully..."
The angel reaches into her robes and takes out a small orb. She focuses on it intently... and her voice emanates from the orb that Cadena now holds. "Hello?"
The golden vixen murmurs, "Wyverns think like dragons... Armor means tasty meat filling." She smirks, eyes crinkled a bit as if laughing silently.
"Lady Irielle," Brother Cadena whispers into the orb, "I apologize for this interruption. This is Brother Cadena. I have been tasked with reaching the top of this tower, but have arrived in the middle of a conflict, the parameters of which I do not understand, and I haven't the convenience of flight or other magical conveyances. Might I trouble you for some guidance, if you have the time?"
"You're supposed to be supportive!" Jason mutters to Inari, though he at least sounds amused by it.
"Oh, I remember you! You were the one that Demeritorious got into a fit over," Irielle says, smiling. "He was in such a snit when you got away. Did you find a faction to your liking then? What may I do for you?"
The grey wyvern sniffs the air suspiciously and looks about, but decides eventually, as Jason moves cautiously and keeps his distance, the armored fox-shaped person doesn't appear to be a threat.
"You should join Blessed Light if you have the option now," Tracer whispers to Cadena.
The skybarque past the wyvern looks like a sailing boat, except that the sails are mounted to the sides and lift is provided by what looks like a glowing blue stone mounted in a curving over-keel strut. The name on the side reads, "Half Past Time To Go," in cursive gold letters.
Off in the distance, the battle continues between the vampire and the sorceress, and the oversized demon lord and his army of imps. The vampire disappears from one spot, swirled up by his bats... And reappers on the other side of Demeritorious, forcing him to split his attentions. He bites an imp! And promptly makes a horrible face. "Ugh! Demon blood."
"Oh look, it even says it's time to go. How fortunate for us. We'll only be doing what to wants to do, so the owner can't get mad about it," Jason pronounces as he approaches the barge. "Now, lemme see how to board and get this thing going..."
"Ah yes, thank you for remembering. I am not formally aligned with a faction at this time, but it's safe to say that I do serve the Light," Brother Cadena says, glancing aside to Tracer. "I am fulfilling obligations to several parties who have assisted me in getting to where I am now. I'm on the same floor as you now, by the way. I fear that if I approach, I might cause trouble, and stealth is NOT my strong point."
Inari peers. "It looks like it's magically based, not technological. Seems out of place here."
"Anything technological will appear to be magic in the right situation," Jason claims and continues to try to figure out how to work the blasted thing.
Rather than a simple anchor, the barque is held in place by several beams of light emanating from mystic runes at stern and bow.
The angel frowns slightly. "Oh, are you after the Map too? I'm afraid you'll have a lot of company, dear. Everyone seems to have gotten the idea that it's somewhere here, and is combing the place over."
"Something tells me that's probably what we need to find to get out of here," Tracer says. "Could be what you detected up top too."
The runes look familiar to Jason... And in a few moments, he places it - they're similar to the ones used in Avatars, with just enough differences to avoid lawsuits. The boat responds to the voice of its owner, and under ordinary circumstances, that's unchangeable - but in a pinch, Jason can tinker with his suit's speakers to produce any sort of voice, given enough time and a sample to match it from. Now he just needs to figure out how to get the sample.
"The Map?" Brother Cadena repeats into the orb. "No, I haven't heard of that. I'm only following the guidance of the Light. The Light allows me to find things ... but it doesn't necessarily tell me what I'm supposed to find, alas. There is going to be an event - a terrible one - at the top of this tower. I fear that the effects could be ... ah ... how to put it ... permanent. I have gathered a few fellow travelers but ... honestly, we're all a bit new to this, I'm afraid." He looks for his chance to maneuver to a new position. "Perhaps we could help each other? I could see if the Light will show me where this Map is."
"Hmmm," Jason ponders. He starts looking for evidence the boat is owned by, say, the vampire!
The pretty-- some might say sexy or glamorous-- blonde angel tilts her head. "Well, Demeritorious is causing a scene again, so I would say he's pretty distracted. I promise not to yell that you're here if you come my way." Her eyes twinkle.
"Thank you! I shall be over presently," Brother Cadena says to the orb. He looks back to Lady Tracer for confirmation, and holds out the orb.
Taking the orb back, Tracer says, "We'll cover you, until Jason gets back with the boat."
Brother Cadena nods, and makes haste to cross the distance.
The demon is momentarily blinded as the sorceress throws another levinbolt his way... But not so blinded as not to catch a hint of people moving down the way from him. "Hah! Bring all the allies you want, Demeritorious shall defeat them all!"
The sorceress looks puzzled, glancing to the sides, but not behind her. "Dear," she says. "We don't need backup for a penny-ante demon lord like you. Now get off our backs and stop trying to turn everything into a fight!"
Brother Cadena, having failed to avoid the notice of the demon (the fact that he's glowing and has animated chains drifting around in his wake do detract from his basic attempts at stealth) picks up the pace, making his way on around the circle.
Tracer mounts Fuseli, so she can use the cannon if needed. "Yappy, hug the other corner, just in case," she suggests.
Jason's brow does a dance in his helmet. Having a bad feeling about this, he says in his own voice, "Ship, disengange anchors and prepare to depart."
"Unauthorized operator detected," the boat responds in a neutral female voice. "Owner has been alerted."
"Okay, so not my clone. That's actually a weight off my mind," Jason admits. So, he starts rifling through the belongings of said owner for the moment, not exactly concerned that the owner has been notified.
As Brother Cadena passes by the easternmost apartment, he notices something odd - it looks just like Tracy's apartment on the inside. And there's someone inside, rummaging through the closet. At that moment, the mysterious intruder looks up, then starts to move toward the window.
His form is indistinct, as if he's wearing some kind of camouflage magic or technology.
Brother Cadena continues to jog toward the angel, trying not to evidence any notice of the home invader. "Lady Champion," he says, activating his headset, "the apartment I just passed appears to be a synecdoche to yours on Earth. There is an intruder employing cloaking technology, ransacking it. I have been spotted."
The boat contains a variety of lockpicking and electronic interference gizmos, including a directional laser microphone, a sniper rifle, and several pistols, each modified in different ways, practically everything the well-equipped agent needs in the field. As Jason looks through the gear, the boat continues to warn him, "You are tampering with equipment that belongs to the Shadows. If you continue to interfere, we cannot guarantee your safety from retaliatory actions."
Inari's eyes light up. "Who is this guy you're robbing?" she asks Jason. "I'd like to meet him."
"What?" Tracer asks through her own headset. "I'll check it out, keep moving towards Irielle." She gets down from her saddle, and tells Yappy, "I'm going to check something out, stay close to Fuseli."
"I'm not entirely sure. I thought it might have been my copy, but it doesn't appear to be," he notes. And ... since he can't take the ship he decides to be annoying and look for a way to rig the weaponry to explode and just take the ship with it!
That was Jason
The angel looks over toward Cadena and smiles encouragingly. She stands, putting the sextant-compass away. "You're here," she says. "But didn't you say you had friends?"
Tracer sneaks around the corner, moving as stealthily as she can manage to avoid drawing attention.
As Lady Tracer approaches the door that leads to what would be her apartment in the real world, she's struck by how similar it looks, down to the scratches. There's the same rack with track and gym trophies, and... There's the camouflaged man, considering Jason ransacking his skybarque. He whirls around, catching sight of Tracy. His face is a blur, but the way he moves... It's got to be Jack Fisher.
"I know I owe you for your help last time, but really.. did you have to ransack my apartment?" Tracer asks the man.
Brother Cadena jogs to a stop, ducking his head humbly to the angel. "A couple of them took off to find other conveyance, preferring not to leave things to chance." He spares a glance back to the apartment, then says, "I would be happy to ask the Light to show me the way to this Map. I must note, however, that I owe a debt to the Shadows from earlier, and if they ask me to find it for them, I am obliged to give them the same assistance. Given how you said that "everyone" is looking for this, I imagine it's only a matter of time."
The boat equipment is locked and secured... But for someone who's been everywhere as Jason has, it takes only a minute or so for him to work through the code. Ah. Here's the local equivalence of C-4. Naturally, it's named D-5, and purports to be highly explosive magical energy sealed into an inert chemical matrix, triggered by the use of an appropriate runed detonator.
"Oooh, heheheh. Science is a lot more fun when you have dangerous explosives," Jason claims as he gets into the locked crate. Now ... to just find the detonator...
The man straightens, and his voice confirms his identity. "Your apartment, miss? I'm afraid I don't quite place who you are, but to the best of my knowledge, these apartments are unowned and unoccupied." He frowns, studying Lady Tracer, whose appearance has changed from the last time he saw her. "If you'll excuse me, someone is trying to break into my boat."
"Hold on.. is it the one just outside?" Tracer asks. "Oh, I'm.. I was Treasa. I'm with Brother Cadena. You're Jack, right?" She keys her headset, and asks, "Hey Jason, are you messing with that boat?"
The angel tilts her head to the side. "Really? What did they do to incur such a great debt?" she wonders.
"You've changed," Fisher says flatly. "But yes, that is it."
"Of course I am," comes Jason's reply. "The owner very unhelpfully made it hard to steal, so I'm helpfully making it into rubble..."
"I'm talking to the owner right now," Tracer notes. "He's an ally.. sort of. He helped with getting Yappy away from the Wild Hunt. Don't break anything, we already owe him big!"
"Awww," comes Jason's reply. "But there are lovely explosives here to set off. It would have made a spectacular explosion."
"They provided an escort to the last thing I was finding," Brother Cadena says. "In exchange, I am to find something for them, which has not yet been specified. It could be anything, really. One problem with my ability, however, is that at times it has a way of making the object of my search visible to everyone, not just to myself or to my patrons."
"We don't want to draw attention, remember?" Tracer points out, then says to Jack, "Okay, your boat should be fine. Don't suppose you could give some of us a lift? Cadena is going to try and locate the Map, and we need to get to the top of the tower."
"But it would draw attention away," Jason argues over the communication channel. "I never get to have any fun."
Outside, the vampire lunges for Demeritorious! The demon lord swats him aside with one hand, laughing, and the sorceress screams as he thumps against the wall. He struggles back to his feet, groaning. "O-P," he grumbles.
Fisher raises an eyebrow as 'formerly Treasa' argues over thin air. "Yes... I suppose that I could. I have a bit of information for your friend Cadena as well."
Brother Cadena is distracted by the scream, looking concerned, but he doesn't break away from the conversation with the angel.
"I'm going to blow something up in this world," Jason tells Inari and even waggles his armored index finger at her. He then sits down to sulk for a moment.
Irielle considers. "Well, that would be something of a disadvantage right now," she agrees. "I was just here on the off chance that I'd be able to pick up something, but all my aetherometer is telling me is that there is... Was some kind of disturbance here, just that way." She nods toward the southeastern skywalk.
"Okay, what is it?" Tracer asks, tapping her headset. "I can tell him, but he's busy with Irielle right now. And.." She pauses, and stares at the trophies. Then she steps into the kitchen area and looks inside the microwave oven for Mark's ruined PDA.
It's there, minus the battery and data chip, along with a clip of bullets.
"This.. this is impossible, isn't it?" Tracer mutters, and then goes to see if the closet is actually full of her clothes.
The sorceress, concerned for her vampire friend, runs to his side, throwing up a magical shield to deflect Demeritorious's assault. "Honey! Are you okay?" The vampire groans rubbing his side. "I think I'm hurting in real life from that!"
The closet opens with exactly the same smell of coats and cedar-scented mothballs.
Inari looks over at Jason. "So, no boom?"
Brother Cadena nods to the angel, then glances to the southeast. "In that direction is where the opening appeared for me to return to this world. Upon arriving here, I received subtle direction from the Light that I should go to the top of the tower, but the sounds of combat hint at hostilities to be avoided. I hope that after reaching the top, I will receive further instruction." He frowns, upon hearing the vampire's comment. "Oh no. Please...." He turns back to the angel.
"Hey, everyone?" Tracer notes over the headset. "I'm in my apartment. All my stuff is here. Even the stuff I hid. That's not good, is it? I think we need to hurry."
"No boom. Maybe we should go kill that annoying demon or something. Tracy is trying to arrange passage from the owner or some such boring stuff," Jason says as he gets to his feet and leaves the boat. He does take one of the bocks of explosives with him, however. "No, that isn't good," he agrees over the comm.
Jack Fisher looks at Lady Tracer oddly. "Is something wrong?" he asks. "I recognized this area from the video of the terrorists, and thought it worth checking out, but..."
"It's an exact copy of my real apartment, Jack," Tracer says quietly. "The worlds are merging here. Let's get back to your boat. If it can fit inside the tower, we can scoop up Cadena.."
The vampire grits his teeth. As Demeritorious gathers up his strength for another devastating breath of demonflame, he says to the sorceress, "I'll manage. Two birds strategy, ready?"
Brother Cadena checks his headset. "Lady Champion? Serious problem. Harm to entities in this world may result in actual harm to their counterparts elsewhere. The forms themselves may be synecdoches. Request permission to intervene." His voice raises in tension as he broadcasts the warning and request.
"You are not to go near the demon!" Tracer snaps over the headset. "We have to stop whatever is building on the top of the tower; that should separate the realities again. Stay where you are and we'll pick you up."
"Let's go Jack," Tracer says, hurrying back to the central atrium.
"RIU, can you carry this little bundle of explosive goodness?" Jason asks the little dragon on his shoulder as he holds up the D-% pack.
The Shadows rogue heads toward his boat with long strides. "Well, then." He eyes the hallway. "The sails might have a little trouble making it through the entrance, but if we fold them and do a little hauling..."
RIU beeps! It looks like the D-5 pack will just about fit his lifting capability. He hovers up into the air.
Brother Cadena winces. Resigned, he says into the headset, "Understood. I shall comply." He casts a worried look across the way to the vampire and sorceress. "Lady Irielle, I fear my time here is short. I offer to ask the Light to show the way to your Map, and I shall try to be subtle about it. In exchange, if the guidance satisfies your requirements, I request assistance in speedy transport to the top of this tower. If this is not acceptable, I humbly apologize for taking your time."
"Think you can cloak and go plant that out the lord, annoying, red guy?" Jason asks the dragon. Into the comm Jason says, "I'm going to give the vampire and his snoggums some help. Fear not!"
"Don't kill anyone!" Tracer urges into the comm, and tells Jack, "I've got a horse, or we can make Jason push."
Irielle blinks. "Oh! You just want an airlift? Well, I can do that," she says with a smile. "It's no trouble, you don't need to play the make-a-deal game with me."
Jack chuckles. "That will do admirably. So where is Brother Cadena?"
"For a goth you're awfully concerned about people living," Jason remarks into the comm. "I doubt this will kill a demon ... but it'll sure hurt!"
Tracer points back to the northern section of the tower.
RIU pops out of visibility! While no one else can see it, Jason senses his Avatar floating away from him, toward where the demon lord is trying to burn his way through the sorceress's shield.
Brother Cadena nods. "That would be most appreciated, Lady Irielle. Let me see how my traveling companions are doing." He checks his headset. "Champion? Lady Irielle says that an 'airlift' would be simple. Have you already found transport for the others?"
"Jack Fisher is taking us up, so if you can catch a ride from the angel, we can meet up top," Tracer replies. "Also, Jack has some information for you."
"Think you can snipe the explosive?" Jason asks Inari. "You do look ever so sexy when you're about to send someone on a trip..."
Just as the shield seems about to collapse, the vampire dodges to the left, toward the lift shaft, and the sorceress breaks to the right! The flames flood the wall singing them.
The golden vixen smirks. "If that were ordinary C4, a bullet wouldn't do the trick... But since this is a game?" She hefts her assault rifle and checks its scope. "Everything explodes."
Brother Cadena nods. "Understood, Champion. I shall make haste." He signs off his transmitter, and bows to Lady Irielle. "It seems everyone else was busy while I was jogging around the circle. I am the only one without transportation. If you can show me the way to an 'airlift,' I would be grateful."
"Just hold still," the angel says as she stands and moves up close to Cadena... In hugging range!
"Why, you just say the sweetest things," Jason teases. "Lets go help those two out while Tracy gets us the boat, eh?"
Brother Cadena blinks, not quite sure what happens next.
RIU continues to float toward the demon lord while he's distracted trying to figure out which of the sorceress and the vampire to strike next!
Jack Fisher calls his boat. "To me! It's half past time to go!" His boat shuts down its anchor and starts to float his way, eerily. The wyvern squawks at its passage, startled.
Irielle hugs Cadena around his chest! She spreads her wings out and beats them once, then twice.
Once she's close enough, Tracer mounts up on Fuseli. "Yappy, get in the boat with Jack. If you have to use your gun, you'll do better than you would as my tail gunner."
The brown-furred werewolf tears his gaze away from the fight. "Got it, miss," he says. "After you, sir!"
As RIU attempts to attach the D-5 to Demeritorious, the demon feels an unexplained touch on his side and whirls around! The mini-dragon barely manages to escape being swatted -- that blow feels unearthly powerful!
Brother Cadena, meanwhile, holds his breath. Not because he has any good reason for doing so, that is, but it just seems the thing to do.
"Time to be a distraction," Tracer says, and guides Fuseli towards the central airshaft.
Demeritorious whirls around. "Where is the pest that dared to lay hands on the great Demeritorious? Show yourself!"
"Bah, he got lucky!" Jason tells RIU over their link, "You can show him that he may be bigger, you're better!"
The demon looks around, but sees... no one except for Irielle hugging some brown robed person, a woman of strange armor on a flying black nightmare, a strange fox-armored person with a golden fox at his side, and the fleeing sorceress and vampire. "Imp! Chase the vampire," he orders of his remaining minion. "He's wounded, he can't go far. The rest of you-- flee before the awesome might of the great demon lord Demeritorious!"
The imp shambles after the vampire, hopping and giggling madly.
"Behold the power of hellfire!" Demeritorious gathers flames upon his hands and prepares to channel them in a devastating burst straight for the nightmare and its rider, the closest and largest of the newcomers.
Fuseli is nearly caught by the fire, but manages to veer aside as the vicious flames wash into the central airspace!
"Hey, watch it there, brimstone britches!" Tracer yells.
"Hail, fallen creature of the darkest Abyss!" Brother Cadena calls out to the imp as it pursues the vampire. "By what authority have you been permitted to escape from the place of eternal torment before the trumpet has sounded? What circle of the Inferno do you hail from, and to what Principality do you pledge allegiance? By the authority of the Heavens, I demand that you give a full accounting before you pursue that sinner!" He goes on like this for as long as the angel still keeps him within shouting distance of the small demon, making an occasional reference to Dante's Divine Comedy, but with a few genuine Scriptures referenced as well.
"Drop it on his toes, RIU!" Jason orders the little dragon while he takes aim with his own arc-bolt apparatus at the demon directly. "Inari, prepare to snipe the bomb..."
Irielle leaps upward with Brother Cadena! Sunlight pierces through the airshaft at just the right moment and angle to catch her wings and illuminate them with dazzling gold at the tips. The imp shrieks and then kneels down before him. "I didn't do nuttin' it was some other demon you can't prove anything I didn't do nuttin'!"
Demeritorious senses RIU's proximity and swats again! Recovering itself, the minidragon gives up on trying to attach it to him, and drops the package at his feet before making tracks away.
The golden vixen lines her assault rifle up and prepares to fire, aiming for the small package.
"Suck ozone, sulfur sycophant," Jason tells the demon and raises his right hand, the dual induction rings whirring away and building up a charge!
Jack Fisher gets in the boat and pulls the sails in, while Yappy pushes it through the hallway. "We're halfway through," the rogue assures the brown werewolf. "Just keep pushing."
A bright blue bolt of lightning cracks across the room from Jason's gauntlet! The demon writhes as the bolt manages to punch through his remaining shields, already depleted by the sorceress's attacks. "Argh! You will answer for that, pitiful mortal!"
"Yeah yeah, leave a message on the answering machine and I'll get back to you," Jason retorts.
"Lay it on him!" Jason orders RIU, then takes aim at the demon too!
Yappy finds a burst of energy, momentarily swelling into immense size, and shoves the skybarque the rest of the way! As the boat clears the sides of the hall, Jack unfurls the sails, angling them to provide upward lift. He reaches down over the back to give Yappy a hand up.
Irielle floats upward with Brother Cadena, toward the sunlit top.
As Jason fires again, lightning washes over Demeritorious. He writhes in agony, his armor burning and melting under its effect. It reminds him of a flat movie he saw a long time ago...
RIU gathers its energy, curling into a coil around a ball of lightning, its armor flaring out with bursts of magic into elaborate curliques... Then straightens, unleashing a devastating bolt! The intense light briefly silhouettes everyone nearby, turning them into negative images.
Demeritorious crumples to one knee, struggling to remain upright and conscious. "No! This cannot be happening! I, the great demon lord, cannot be defeated by mortal hands!"
And then Inari squeezes off a tight burst of three bullets.
"Not mortal hands ... a kitsune's hands," Jason points out helpfully.
The D-5 explosive takes the impact. Propelled by the blast right under the demon, it sparks... And then explodes into a huge cloud of flames and smoke!
The imp is consumed by the flames. "I see the Liiiii..." crisp
And Demeritorious himself... Spreads his wings, just as the explosives go off. The flames wash over his form, leaving horrible scars and burns as he is knocked into a gateway of hellfire, which closes a moment later! "You'll pay for this! You'll..." His words are cut off.
"Time to fly," Tracy calls to Jason. "Up, up and watch your back!"
"We'll have a weenie roast in your honor!" Jason calls after the departing demon. He salutes the closing gateway ... and resists doing a victory jig. "Right, right, we'll go up in the boat. Everyone, time to go sailing!"
Inari blows imaginary smoke off the tip of her assault rifle.
"Rowr" Jason comments as he passes by Inari on the way to the ship.
Jack Fisher finishes hauling Yappy into the 'Half Past Time To Go' and takes it toward the center airshaft. "All aboard who's coming," he calls. The vampire and sorceress seem happy to leave them to their voyage, however, as they regroup.
"Follow that Cadena!" Tracer calls, and sends Fuseli after Irielle and Cadena.
Inari lopes after Jason - taking a ride in a boat seems like it beats clinging to an armored suit with boot jets, especially when she's flammable.
Irielle slows down. "Well! Your friends seem to have done a nice job on Demeritorious," she tells Cadena. "By the way, that was a sterling speech you gave that imp. Gave me goosebumps!"
Inari smacks the kitsune-armored Jason on the heiny.
Jason heys! "And that was for?" he asks Inari.
"Rowr," she responds.
"Hey, can you blame me?" Jason retorts.
In a minute, Brother Cadena, Jason and Inari, and Yappy are riding comfortably with Jack Fisher... Though Fisher gives Jason a hard look and tilts his head toward the obviously ransacked cupboards. Fuseli flies to one side with Tracy, and Irielle floats along on the other side. The Half Past Time To Go glides upward silently, its brightly painted hull reflecting the neon advertisements.
"You would have done the same," Jason points out to Jack and shrugs his armored shoulders. "Or worse .. you were looking through a woman's private things. Actually, worse .. Tracy's private things. That's nightmare material."
Tracer keeps her eyes peeled for any surprises. "Who started the rumor that the Map was here, anyway?" she asks Irielle.
"It wasn't that bad," Fisher says. "But, let me fill you in. Brother Cadena had asked about a certain Renard, and I'd started inquiries, when what should happen but we get contacted by Monsieur Renard, offering to sell us information?"
Brother Cadena breathes more easily - ever so slightly, that is - while he's on the relatively more "stable" ground of the boat - but he goes on the alert again at mention of the fox.
"That is, he claimed to know the location of the Map. I authorized a retainer fee, majority to be paid if we successfully recovered it." Fisher glances downward. "It appears that Monsieur Renard is backing more than one horse in this race, however. I have no doubt that he stands to profit admirably, whichever side succeeds in claiming it."
"Would someone fill me in on what this 'Map' thing is?" Jason requests.
Brother Cadena blanches at this, noting to Jason and Tracer. "At the risk of repetition, it was this 'Monsieur' Renard who openly claimed to be serving the Black - and that I was in service to the White. Not the Shadow or the Light, but the Black and the White."
"That still doesn't tell me what this Map thing is," Jason notes.
"It's a map," Tracer helpfully says. "A map of the Gloaming, with the locations of the portals and all of the different worlds."
"Oh, how thrilling," Jason remarks a bit dryly. "Unless it pertains to what is going on outside of this game world, it is of secondary concern."
"It should also have those portals listed too," Tracer comments.
"And you base this conclusion on what evidence?" Jason asks.
"If an agent of the Black wishes to find it," Brother Cadena says, "I'll guess that it has relevance to the location and formation of synecdoches."
Irielle adds, "Not only that, rumor has it that you can use the map to make portals if you want, to go wherever you want. They say that it was left in the game long ago by developers, and they've been trying to find it ever since, so they can get rid of it."
Fisher continues, "That's the rumor that led me to investigate your apartment, Treasa. Well, that one and the others nearby. The whole area looked just too much like the one in the news to be coincidence."
"Give me access to a quantum terminal and I'll find it in under an hour," Jason comments as he looks over the edge of the ship. "If ti can do what you say, then it will have links feeding back to it from basically everywhere. It should be locateable based on all those data feeds."
Yappy brightens. "Did they get my good side?" Jack gives him a startled look. "Well, now that you mention it..."
The air shaft is long and the boat doesn't seem to move that quickly, but they seem about halfway to the top.
Tracer notes, "It may or may not exist, and this could all just be to provide cover for something else. And yeah, Potemkin allows for convergence points between here and the real world. And it may be doing it by itself, after seeing my apartment."
In the distance can be heard the reports of guns, the thunder of explosions, as if a storm were raging outside.
"My kingdom for a model seven jet turbine with inline fuel heater," Jason mutters in dismay at the slow ascent.
Brother Cadena says, "Ah ... I doubt this is immediately relevant, but before we reach the top, did any of you recognize that sorceress from down below? I'm curious as to her name, for future reference. On the ever-so-slight chance she's who I think she is, I may have to deliver a message to her later."
"I have no idea who it was. Who do you think it was?" Jason asks.
"I wasn't really paying attention," Tracer admits. "I was watching Demetorious."
Irielle looks thoughtful. "She's League, I've seen her around! I think she and the vampire are a husband-and-wife team. Must be nice..."
Brother Cadena nods to Irielle. "Are they musically talented, by any chance?"
Yappy leans toward Tracy. "The base where they took me must be around here somewhere. I don't remember any 'map' kinda thingy though," he says quietly.
"I'm not sure! I can look her up and ask her for you," the angel says, smiling.
Jason starts fiddling with some of the circuits in his left gauntlet for lack of anything to contribute regarding Gloaming or the people that play it. Impedance is a bit off," he mutters to himself, "Makes the output less than it should be."
"Well, the portal to the California base was around here, but they may have another one within the Gloaming. Close to the portals they were opening," Tracer notes.
Brother Cadena nods. "Thank you, Lady Irielle. It might just be a mistake on my part. I'll have to follow up on the possibility once ... ah ... we haven't more pressing matters to attend to."
Jason also takes the chance to remove his helmet and just breathe regular air for a bit.
Brother Cadena braces himself, ears perked. "We're nearing the top. Chanting, sounds of combat, and distinct screams coming from the west, in the direction of the large central tower's rooftop."
The barque ascends, within a minute of the top. Fisher peers up and then reports, "There's a skylight in the way. Do you want to punch our way through or get out and walk?"
"If we blow through, it'll draw attention," Tracer warns. "No chance of stealth at that point."
"Blowign through would be dramatic, but would draw attention to ourselves. I vote for walking," Jason suggests.
Irielle frowns. "Chanting? That sounds like they're carrying out some kind of ritual. I wonder if it has something to do with the Map?"
"Speaking of stealth, should I seek guidance to find the Map?" Brother Cadena asks. "If my faith is insufficient, I may risk calling attention to it and us in the process. I have a strong suspicion that it may be close to the point of convergence above."
"If it isn't the same location I'll be surprised," Tracer says. "Best check now though."
"As you wish, Lady Champion," Brother Cadena says, bowing. He closes his eyes in prayer.
"You really have him whipped," Jason notes to Tracer.
Fisher says, "Maybe they've found a Place of Power. Though word on the street has it that they weren't supposed to put any in this area. Some kind of deal the indie art students who made this place got with the company." The rogue frowns. "But with so many people around... The game likes to stir things up."
RIU licks Jason's left ear. Since his helmet is off...
Jason acks and bats at his left ear.
"Well, it's clear who holds the upper hand in your partnerships, Jason," Tracer snarks back, after RIU's ear lick.
"May the power of the Light guide us," Brother Cadena prays aloud, "to find the way to the Map that shows the ways within the Gloaming, to the portals between realms. May it guide us softly but quietly, by a route as swift as may be managed by foot, so that those who wish to use the Map for ill purposes shall not be alerted to it in the process."
Once again sparks crackle and frizzle around the tip of the crystal-headed staff. It emanates into a ghostly line that swirls upward, and then toward the west -- where there should be a bridge crossing between the top of the eastern building and the massive central tower.
"Neat effect!" Irielle says, leaning over Cadena's shoulder, her wings beating softly so that air rushes around his robes ticklishly.
"You know, I think Cadena has a friend, Jason remarks quietly to Inari ... while trying to fend of RIU from his ear...
Fisher observes, "Maybe there really is a Map here after all. But if so, why does Monsieur Renard want everyone after it?"
Inari smirks. "They're a match made in heaven," she teases.
"Frankly, this while thing is one of two things," Jason says. "1.) It could be a massive distraction. Or 2.) The more people here, the creater the energy level of the reagion, and the greater the change of merging worlds starting at this location. So it's probably less about the map and more about just gathering everyone..."
"Then what does that make us?" Jason asks Inari after his doom and gloom analysis.
"The notion of causing a Place of Power to manifest makes sense too, if he needs that energy," Tracer says.
The barque stops at the top of the shaft. Unfortunately, at this level, the exits are too small for the boat. "Looks like we get out here and walk," Fisher says. "I'll have to come back for the boat later." He palms the lock open and retrieves the sniper rifle and a snub-nosed pistol.
Fuseli just lands over the railing. "Looks like the central tower is the place to be," Tracer says.
Inari licks Jason's nose. "A case of animal magnetism at work," she says with a wide grin.
RIU beeps jealously!
Brother Cadena frowns, stepping out. He quietly leans toward Jason, and says, "I concede and fear for your point, as this may indeed be an element. But the map, at least, is not imaginary. If this were only a ruse to draw so many to one point, no actual map would be required, I fear. Still, the hunt could achieve two objectives at once."
Jason wipes his nose. "Top floor, lingerie, swimsuits, and demonic invasions," he declares as he disembarks from the ship. To Cadena he nods. "It's one, the other, or both. None of them are particularly pleasing ideas. The longer we speculate, though, the less chance we have at stopping it."
Yappy eyes Tracy thoughtfully after Inari's comment about 'animal magnetism'. He takes a breath and tries to inflate his chest to appear more muscled.
Brother Cadena takes Jason's hint, and hastens to follow the lead of the Light, wherever it leads him. He keeps alert, as ever, for ambushes, traps, errant explosive powers, and the like.
Tracer smirks at Yappy, and nudges Fuseli to follow Cadena. She keeps one hand on the laser, just in case.
Irielle frowns. "This is supposed to be a game. You seem awfully worried," she points out to Jason and Tracy. "If the Map gets found, well, someone will have it, and we'll spend the next few years trading it back and forth. It can't be anything more serious than that, can it?"
"Four years ago, California," is Jason's reply to that.
Fisher slings the sniper rifle over his back and carries his pistol. "So the rumors about them testing some new kind of nuclear reactor at the park?..."
"Well.. we aren't hooked up and running characters here," Tracer notes to the angel. "We walked. Look at me.. I'm a character from the Diadem universe, not the Gloaming."
"Was complete crap," Jason remarks to Fisher. "I'm a survivor of that incident. So is Inari here."
"Contextual shift detected," Brother Cadena says absently. "Please clarify expected behavioral context."
"Oh no, are you going to change again?" Tracer asks Cadena.
"Not without specific instruction," Brother Cadena replies, still going through the motions of following the Light trail.
Irielle looks startled. "You're saying..." She floats along as they emerge into the outside. Outside the sky is mottled - shafts of sunlight pierce through the clouds, as if there were a war of light versus darkness. The beam that had been illuminating the central airshaft moves, leaving the boat in darkness. "There's some kind of link between that other game and this one?"
Fisher grimaces. "This sounds complicated. Let's make it short, what's your objective, destroy the Map, or recover it for the good guys, whomever they may be?"
"And the real world, too," Tracer notes. "Jack figured it out a bit - the area here we just left almost exactly corresponds to a place in the real world, and that's enough to let one punch through from one to the other."
Jason takes a moment to get his helmet to return to its position and then continues along. "No, we're saying there's a link to that game and the real world," he says. "None of us are game characters. Well save you and Fisher. Our goal is to shut down this mess and prevent all these game worlds from fusing with our real one."
"And to get Sasha," Tracer adds. "Or Artemis, as she probably calls herself here.."
After a pause, Brother Cadena repeats his inquiry, in the same detached tone. "Please clarify expected behavioral context...."
"Brother Cadena," Tracer tells Cadena.
Irielle shakes her head to Tracy. "This is the strangest roleplay..." She pauses as Jason speaks. Something about his deadly serious expression reaches her. "You're not role-playing?"
"Context clarified," Brother Cadena says.
Inari whispers into Jason's ear, "By the way, me and rifles? You and heroic speeches like that. Rowr."
"What triggered you to need clarification?" Tracer whispers to Cadena.
"Not one bit," Jason tells Irielle, "I don't play VR games." Inari's comment causes him to blink ... and then, well, he swats her heiny.
"Out of character discussion in presence of roleplayers," Brother Cadena says quietly to Lady Tracer/Tracy.
Tracer runs her hand through her hair, and says, "Anyway, let's get across the bridge without getting shot at.."
Fisher looks up to where the black airship has pulled up to the airship dock at the top of the tower. "All right, so just to be clear, you aren't personally interested in the Map, just as long as it doesn't cause this massive convergence of real and virtual worlds," he says. "Speaking on behalf of the Shadows, if you're willing for us to have it after that's said and done, I'll be happy for our side to lend whatever aid we can."
Brother Cadena shows no sign of interjecting himself into the negotiations.
"I'm fine with that," Tracer says. "The Shadows having it won't affect the Balance that much, since they'll give access to whoever can pay for it, Light or Dark."
Irielle rolls her eyes. "Mercenaries. I was going to log off after a bit of hide-and-seek, but let me just make a call and I'll be with you," she says. She acquires the distant look of the AFK.
"I have no interest in the map so long as it does not endanger the real world," Jason says.
They cross the walkway nervously, then around the side of the central tower to the lift tubes. At the top of the tower, a battle royale is taking place, with strangely robed and garbed persons chanting around a statue in the center of the garden, factions split up at northern and western ends trying to assault them and push them back. The statue itself stares blindly at the proceedings, a bare-skinned man dressed in naught but a lion's pelt loincloth, his arms swept back holding a massive globe of Earth over his head.
To the south, the Black Thorn is docked, its guns controlling the between it and the outdoors cafe, but the airship ticket stand, maintenance garage, and the cafe proper block its view of the ritual.
Monsieur Renard himself... appears to be leading the ceremony. "We almost have control!" he tells the onlookers. "Defend the Map! Repel anyone who tries to stop us! We will win the Map, and we will gain ultimate power over the universe!"
Brother Cadena nods, gesturing with the staff. "As you might suspect, Lady Champion, I am guided toward the statue at the center of this ritual. And that would be 'Monsieur' Reynard, leading the ... festivities."
Overhead a tiny dragonwinged fairy flits, taking note of the newcomers. "To me, League! Gather on the north side, we've got to stop them, but we need to coordinate or we'll never break through!"
"On the bright side - no giant cyborg killing machines," Tracer notes as she takes in the scene. "Cait, is that you? It's Treasa!"
"Well, I know what will help this little ritual," Jason quips. "A bullet. Maybe a few, right into that Renard's head. Ir a C-4 enema. Or a small tactical nuclear missile. Does anyone have some enriched Uranium 235?"
The fairy pauses. "Treasa? No way! Are you in disguise?"
Inari says deadpan, "Let me just check the inside of your head, Jason."
Jack Fisher comments, "That's what I said, too."
"Long story! But I've got Area-of-Effect attacks," Tracer replies. "We might as well head over and see who's arrayed. With Jack's allies to the south, and mine to the north, we may have a chance."
Brother Cadena blinks and bows to the fairy, caught in the middle of introductions as Tracy snaps to business. Lost in the action: "Greetings, Miss Caitlin. This is none other than Lady Tracer of House Trudeau, Champion of the Light, Link and Rider of Fuseli, Nightmare of Shadows."
Cait spins doing a mid-air pirouette. "Oh! Caddie! And you got the Shadows on our side? That's great! Meet you there!" She zooms off.
"I have a lot of difficulty taking any of this with the seriousness it requires," Jason admits to Inari as the group apparently heads north. "We're following a fairy into battle. Seriously? What's next, attack of the cabbage people?"
"Don't be silly, Jason," Tracer claims. "The cabbage people are like, level one.."